Cevotec and KCompositeLab (KCLab) have entered a commercial partnership to bring Robotic Lamination to composite manufacturers in South Korea. KCLab acts as Cevotec’s sales partner in the Korean market and supports customers technically – from the first feasibility assessment through process development to production ramp-up, leveraging their own experienced composite engineering capabilities.

South Korea is one of the fastest-growing markets for advanced composites. The partnership primarily targets two industries: manufacturers of aerospace and defense structures, and producers of composite pressure vessels for hydrogen storage. Sovereign aerospace programs, a rapidly expanding defense export industry and government-backed localization initiatives create sustained demand, while hydrogen mobility drives volume in composite tank production. The type of process automation demand from these industries match well the equipment portfolio of Cevotec.

Extending the automation envelope for aerostructures in South Korea

Cevotec’s Robotic Lamination technology is based on the Fiber Patch Placement (FPP) process, which has been developed in the aerospace industry for close to 20 years. Cevotec has been industrializing the technology during the past 10 years for series production. Robotic Lamination equipment automates composite lay-up on complex 3D geometries. Robots place individual plies or patches of carbon fiber, glass fiber, prepreg or adhesive film onto molds of complex shape; each patch can be individually oriented. This enables process automation for mid-sized, complex aircraft parts that typically fall outside the process window of established technologies that for example build wings and fuselage of aircrafts. As Robotic Lamination is not used in South Korea so far, it represents an opportunity for the industry to extent the automation envelope for high-quality, high-rate composite manufacturing.

Technology for more efficient composite pressure vessels

For composite pressure vessels, the technology enables industrial production of dome reinforcements. These local reinforcements on pressure vessel domes enable additional storage volume by reducing overall weight and material needed. This rare combination of cost and performance benefits is an attractive lever for Korean manufacturers of type IV hydrogen tanks, which continue to serve a continuously growing South Korean H2 market.

From feasibility check to series production

Cevotec, as technology and automation solution provider, delivers SAMBA robotic lamination equipment, configured according to application requirements, programmed via digital twin in the ARTIST STUDIO CAD-CAM software.

KCLab provides its own laboratory, material expertise and a network across the Korean composites industry. Korean manufacturers can therefore evaluate parts locally: feasibility checks, ROI calculations, design studies and process trials, facilitated through KCLab, in collaboration with Cevotec’s engineering team in Munich.

Beyond direct sales, both partners plan joint pilot and demonstration projects with Korean manufacturers and research institutes, technical workshops, and a joint presence at Carbon Korea 2026 in Seoul from 4 to 6 November 2026.

“South Korea combines strong aerospace ambitions and a leading position in hydrogen-powered mobility, both backed by governmental localization initiatives. A great market where our equipment supports manufacturers to scale production rates without compromising quality. With KCLab, we found the perfect partner to bring Robotic Lamination to exactly those customers, supported by KCLab’s own composite engineering capabilities.”

Thorsten Gröne, CEO, Cevotec

“We are excited to partner with Cevotec to bring such an advanced fiber placement technologies like Robotic Lamination to the Korean market. This partnership gives Korean aerospace and industrial customers access to the necessary automation equipment for next-generation composite structures.”
Seungchan Lee, COO, KCompositeLab

About KCompositeLab

KCompositeLab (KCLab) is a Korean engineering and technology company specializing in advanced composite materials and manufacturing solutions. KCLab provides consulting, process development, equipment integration, digital manufacturing and technical support for aerospace, defense, automotive and industrial applications. Through partnerships with global technology providers, KCLab helps customers implement new composite manufacturing technologies and accelerate development from concept to production.

Positioned as the bridge between Automated Fiber Placement (AFP) and hand lay-up, Fiber Patch Placement enables robotic lamination for complex 3D geometries, variable thickness regions and mixed-material assemblies – applications that typically fall outside AFP’s process window and become production bottlenecks at scale.

Demonstrators targeting real production challenges

At the show, Cevotec introduces a new aerospace demonstrator highlighting advanced lay-up features representative of secondary aerostructures produced in series environments. This demonstrator showcases high-precision robotic placement on complex geometries, with fiber and patch architectures not achievable using continuous-tow AFP systems.

Beyond this new demonstrator, Cevotec draws on a portfolio of existing, application-driven aerospace demonstrators that underline the maturity of Fiber Patch Placement for complex aerostructures. These include:

• An HTP fairing demonstrator, developed together with GKN and other partners under a grant-supported-project, addressing complex geometry, local reinforcements and multi-material interfaces
• A radome-inspired demonstrator, illustrating controlled fiber architectures and robust material handling for demanding functional and structural requirements

These reference applications represent a broad range of high-value Tier 1 use cases, including radomes, nacelle structures, fairings, spar and rib reinforcements, and localized reinforcements in hybrid assemblies.

Supporting rate increases, cost targets and workflow resilience

By enabling automation where it previously failed, Fiber Patch Placement supports suppliers in addressing key industrialization pressures:

• Scaling to higher production rates for current and upcoming single-aisle programs
• Achieving cost and margin targets despite increasing volumes
• Improving first-pass quality and reducing scrap and rework
• Reducing reliance on manual, ergonomically challenging lay-up operations
• Strengthening their technological readiness for next-generation aircraft platforms

“FPP allows aerospace suppliers to automate exactly those composite parts that have had limited scalability in the past,” says Thorsten Groene, CEO at Cevotec. “It complements AFP by extending automation into complex aerostructures that are critical for production ramp-up and long-term competitiveness.”

Cevotec SAMBA systems, also as retrofit kit: FPP automation beyond AFP limits

Cevotec’s FPP technology is implemented on its SAMBA Series systems, combining high-rate robotic motion with precise placement of load-oriented fiber patches, in a variety of sizes. The systems support:

• Load-path aligned fiber architectures with adjustable gaps / overlaps
• High-precision direct 3D lay-up within tight tolerance on intricate surfaces
• Processing of difficult-to-handle materials, including dry fibers, prepregs, film adhesives and hybrid stacks
• Vision- and sensor-based real-time process monitoring for placement accuracy and quality assurance

This enables robust, repeatable automation for applications where previous automated lay-up approaches proved impractical. Based on a modular design approach, SAMBA Series systems can be configured and customized to match the application.

In addition to standard configurations for applications in aerospace and composite tank reinforcements, Cevotec introduces another innovation this year: A retrofit kit for existing robots, enabling access to FPP lay-up capabilities for user like R&D institutes and universities with compatible robots and small budgets.

Feasibility checks and ROI discussions at JEC World

Cevotec will offer free-of-charge FPP manufacturing feasibility checks during JEC World, enabling aerospace suppliers to quickly assess automation potential for specific parts. Detailed ROI evaluations can follow for shortlisted applications, supported by Cevotec’s engineering and industrialization experts.

Cevotec will be exhibiting at JEC World 2026 at booth 5M99. In addition to aerostructures, the company will also highlight localized reinforcement solutions for composite tanks and pressure vessels, applying Fiber Patch Placement to strengthen load-critical areas. Tier 1 suppliers and OEM representatives interested in discussing specific applications are invited to book a meeting with the Cevotec team at JEC World:

Schedule a meeting

The SAMBA Pro PV system, based on Fiber Patch Placement (FPP) technology, is dedicated to the production of dome reinforcements for hydrogen pressure vessels, enabling significant savings while reducing the weight, cost, and environmental footprint of composite tanks. The system includes a second operating mode tailored for free-form components such as advanced aerospace composites – an area where Japan’s industry also has long held a leading position. 

“By integrating this advanced composite lay-up equipment, Japanese manufacturers can leverage the benefits of FPP technology for efficient and automated composite production, strengthening their competitiveness in the global market”, comments Junji Yamada, President of Fuji Industries Co. Ltd.  

Fuji Industries plays a pivotal role in this initiative, sponsoring and delivering this advanced technology at the NCC and thereby creating new options for the Japanese composite industry. The company exclusively represents Cevotec in Japan and facilitates commercial projects, including prototype development and demonstrator production, tailored to the specific needs of Japanese manufacturers. The deployment of the system is a result of the longstanding collaboration of Cevotec with Fuji Industries. 

“This commissioning underscores the innovative spirit and collaboration of the international composite community. It expands technology portfolio of Japan to develop better composite hydrogen tanks, and we are looking forward to a fruitful collaboration with our industry partners in this exciting field”, comments Professor Akinori Yoshimura, Director of the NCC. 

International Collaboration to Advance Composite Technologies

In parallel to the activities at the NCC, the Fraunhofer Institute for Casting, Composite, and Processing Technology (IGCV) recently strengthened its presence in Japan by establishing the Fraunhofer Innovation Platform for Fibers, Processing and Recycling Solutions at Innovative Composite Center, FIP-MIRAI@ICC, in Kanazawa. This platform facilitates local cooperation and supports both Japanese and German companies, including startups, in advancing composite technologies. Joint projects using SAMBA systems further support knowledge transfer in FPP technology that benefits the broader industrial community. Cevotec also collaborates closely with Fraunhofer IGCV, which houses a SAMBA Pro Prepreg system in Augsburg, Germany.  

“By bringing together expertise from Germany and Japan, this collaboration fosters knowledge exchange and accelerates innovation in FPP technology. All partners are eager and excited about the opportunities for cooperation within this expert network”, summarizes Dr. Florian Lenz, Technical Director of Cevotec.  

The synergies between Cevotec, Fuji Industries, NCC, Fraunhofer IGCV, and the ICC demonstrates a shared commitment to advancing the composite industry and driving technological progress in the region. 

About Fuji Industries:

Fuji Industries, founded 77 years ago, has a proven track record in a wide range of business activities, with a particular focus on the aerospace, petrochemical industries, including the rapidly developing sector of composite materials, along with various other leading industries. With its headquarters in Kobe, Japan since foundation, Fuji Industries strategically maintains office locations in Tokyo, Nagoya, New York, Los Angeles, London and Bangkok to effectively serve the key accounts in these industries. Fuji Industries provides partners the maximum support with the goal of long term and mutual business growth. In pursuit of this mission, they actively seek partnerships with companies at the cutting edge of technology. Collaborating with such partners enables Fuji to specialize in their industries on a global scale and positions them at the forefront of new market opportunities.

Optimized Dome Reinforcements with New ARTIST STUDIO Features

Cevotec has further refined its composite tank reinforcement solutions through additional functions in its ARTIST STUDIO CAD-CAM software. The latest updates include enhanced support for Finite Element Analysis (FEA), offering improved simulation accuracy for components with complex curvatures. A new mapping algorithm enables precise modeling of pressure vessel dome reinforcements, optimizing structural analyses and significantly improving product quality. These innovations allow manufacturers to implement tank reinforcement designs with ease, achieving reduced weight and increased storage volume.

“The latest improvements in ARTIST STUDIO allow manufacturers to achieve more precise and efficient reinforcement of composite tanks,” said Dr. Florian Lenz, Technical Director at Cevotec. “This ensures not only enhanced product performance but also significant material savings.”

The technical excellence of Cevotec’s work in composite tank dome reinforcements—as illustrated in a successful collaboration project with CIKONI and Roth Composite Machinery—was recognized in 2024 with the prestigious CAMX Combined Strength Award. This accolade highlights the strong collaboration and ongoing technical progress shaping the future of composite manufacturing.

Advancing Aerospace Manufacturing with Smart Gripper Technology

Cevotec has launched its Smart Gripper concept, a significant leap forward in fiber lay-up capabilities for composite aerospace structures. The Smart Grippers feature tailored stiffness distribution, allowing seamless adaptation to both convex and concave surfaces. This ensures consistent compaction, reducing the need for intermediate debulking and enhancing manufacturing efficiency.

Additionally, the grippers incorporate individually controlled suction zones, enabling them to handle patches of varying sizes on larger grippers to increase flexibility and productivity. Other ongoing developments, including an active gripper deformation feature, further expand the range of suitable 3D geometries for automated high-precision lay-ups.

Cevotec’s Smart Gripper technology also played a pivotal role in the National Composite Center UK’s (NCC) recent study, demonstrating how Fiber Patch Placement can effectively recycle up to 80% of dry fiber manufacturing waste. Furthering aerospace innovation, the latest ARTIST STUDIO software enhancements now fully support trapezoidal-shaped patches, allowing precise gap and overlap control for large aerospace components such as radomes and nacelles. The new features also streamline user functions for interactive patch shape adjustments and automated shape adaptation, ensuring superior laminate quality and production efficiency.

Cevotec Commissions First Fiber Patch Placement System in Japan

Expanding its global footprint, Cevotec has successfully commissioned the first SAMBA Pro-PV system in Japan in collaboration with Fuji Industries. Installed at Nagoya University’s National Composite Center (NCC), the system will officially launch on March 17, 2025, with an inauguration ceremony followed by a technical composite symposium. Dr. Florian Lenz, Cevotec’s Technical Director, will present the latest advancements in Fiber Patch Placement technology at the event.

This milestone underscores Cevotec’s commitment to driving innovation and fostering collaborations worldwide, reinforcing its leadership in automated composite manufacturing.

Finalist for the Combined Strength Award

Together with project partners Roth Composite Machinery and CIKONI, Cevotec is nominated for the CAMX Combined Strength Award 2024 for dome reinforcements of composite tanks. In this industry project, the partners demonstrated savings of 15% less fiber material while simultaneously increasing the storage efficiency of the H2 tank by 17%, at equivalent mechanical properties. The fiber material was placed on the domes using Cevotec’s FPP technology, the first fully automated lay-up technology to efficiently place reinforcement patches directly on tank liners.

“We are delighted to be nominated for the award with this project,” comments Thorsten Groene, CEO and Co-Founder of Cevotec. “The composite shell is still the largest cost reduction opportunity, presenting over 60% of total cost of tank storage systems. Together with our partners, we have successfully demonstrated the savings potential of dome reinforcements for type IV composite tanks in an industrial context . With Fiber Patch Placement technology, manufacturers now have a powerful tool at hand to implement reinforcements also in large-scale series production. This reduces not only cost, but also the CO2 footprint of tanks significantly.”

Cevotec’s technical expert Dr. Dimitrios Sikoutris will present insights of the project at the CAMX Conference, Wednesday Sep 11, 1:30 – 2:25 pm: ‘Composite tanks innovation: 15% weight reduction by using dome reinforcements in an industrial process’. Visitors have also the opportunity to explore a cut-out of a project vessel in the CAMX Award Area.

Advanced composite vessels with SAMBA Pro PV – Less weight, more storage efficiency

Additionally to a physical demonstrator, Cevotec will digitally present , the industrial solution for dome reinforcements of pressure vessels. The system is dedicated to applying carbon fiber patches in the dome areas – fully automated, precise, quality controlled and efficient. Given the reinforcements on the domes, the subsequent winding process can omit certain helical layers, so overall, less material is needed to achieve necessary structural properties. Next to the reduced weight, this gives manufacturers the opportunity to increase absolute volume within the same outer diameter.

In addition, using less material in the winding process increases the capacity of the production line and thereby the overall output, efficiency and profitability of the production. SAMBA Pro PV for dome reinforcements can be combined with all established wet or towpreg winding processes and comes with software to design the reinforcements and create robot data for the equipment fully automated. At CAMX, Cevotec offers manufacturers the opportunity to evaluate their individual savings potential by analyzing presented tank designs.

Complex composite aerostructures – Bridging the gap between AFP and hand lay-up

Cevotec will also show its latest development for the aerospace industry with SAMBA Pro Multi, the FPP solution for complex geometries, multi-material processing and locally adapted fiber designs of aerospace parts. The FPP system for aerostructures offers potential savings in material, cycle time and cost from 20% to 60% for relevant applications compared to legacy processes. Visitors can learn about results from an aerospace project retrofitting the lay-up of horizontal tail plane (HTP) fairing on a legacy tool with FPP automation. This resulted in a more than 7-fold acceleration of the project component. The Cevotec team will showcase a video demonstrating the new placement features of our SAMBA system that enables this significant lay-up acceleration.

“With Fiber Patch Placement, we are closing a significant gap in high-performance lay-up automation. FPP technology finally bridges the chasm between established AFP and hand lay-up, providing an efficient option especially for multi-material placement on complex surfaces. The technology also works well for automation retrofits in legacy program, as the successful results of our latest project show”, adds Technical Expert Dr. Dimitrios Sikoutris with a view to the trade fair

Cevotec hat eine industrielle Lösung zur Gewichts- und Materialeinsparung von Composite Drucktanks entwickelt, indem die Dombereiche des Tanks lokal verstärkt werden. Fiber Patch Placement (FPP) ist die erste Technologie, bei der die Domverstärkungen direkt auf dem Innenbehälter („Liner“) abgelegt werden können. Es handelt sich dabei um einen vollautomatisierten, industriellen Produktionsprozess, der mit bestehenden Nass- oder Towpreg-Wickelanlagen kombiniert werden kann.

Dieser Ansatz reduziert den Netto-Faserbedarf um ca. 15%, abhängig von den Spezifikationen eines Drucktanks. Bei gleichwertigen mechanischen Eigenschaften werden dadurch signifikante Gewichts- und Kosteneinsparungen ermöglicht. Aufgrund der geringeren Wandstärke durch weniger Fasermaterial können die verstärkten Tanks außerdem mehr Speichervolumen bei gleichbleibendem Bauraum bieten und haben eine bessere CO₂-Bilanz.

In Zusammenarbeit mit den Projektpartnern wurde erfolgreich ein optimierter Demonstrator in Originalgröße entwickelt. Das Hauptziel war die Optimierung der Faserablage, um Gewicht, Kosten und Produktionszeit zu reduzieren. Das Projekt umfasste alle Aspekte vom Laminatdesign über die Simulation und Optimierung, durchgeführt von CIKONI, bis hin zur eigentlichen Produktion und Prüfung der verstärkten Drucktanks. Darüber hinaus wurde die Umsetzung der FPP-Domverstärkungen in einer industriellen Produktionsumgebung bewertet. Mit dem erfolgreichen Abschluss der dritten Designiteration wurden die angestrebten Ergebnisse erreicht.

„Der 300-bar Typ-4 Drucktank hat eine dünneres Wickellaminat mit einer geringeren Anzahl an Lagen, die durch die Domverstärkungen ersetzt werden können. Im Vergleich zu einem 700-bar Tank stellt das eine größere Herausforderung dar“, erklärt Dr. Florian Lenz, Technischer Direktor bei Cevotec. „Um das optimale Design mit der größtmöglichen Materialeinsparung zu erreichen, wurden verschiedene Laminate untersucht. In der dritten Iteration haben wir gemeinsam mit den Projektpartnern 108% des geforderten Berstdrucks mit 15% weniger Material erreicht.“ Durch die Materialeinsparungen wird der CO₂-Fußabdruck erheblich reduziert und die Speichereffizienz der getesteten Tanks kann auf 6,1% erhöht werden – eine Verbesserung von 17% gegenüber dem Referenztank.

Cevotec baut derzeit eine für Drucktank-Verstärkungen optimierte FPP-Produktionsanlage in ihrem Technikum in Unterhaching bei München auf. Die SAMBA Pro PV Lab Anlage wird im Frühjahr 2024 für kommerzielle Projekte, Prototypenherstellung und Kundenentwicklungen zur Verfügung stehen. Thorsten Gröne, CEO und Mitgründer von Cevotec, unterstreicht die strategische Bedeutung der industriellen Domverstärkungen für Drucktanks: „Der erwartete Faserbedarf für Wasserstofftanks wird das verfügbare Faserangebot in den nächsten 5-10 Jahren übersteigen. Technologien wie FPP, die Ressourceneinsparungen ermöglichen, sind von strategischer Bedeutung für die globale Wettbewerbsfähigkeit.“ Interessenten können die Teams von Cevotec, CIKONI und Roth auf der JEC World, der führenden internationalen Composite Messe, in Paris vom 5. bis 7. März treffen.

Über Cevotec:
Der Münchner Automations-Spezialist Cevotec bietet eines der weltweit modernsten Produktionssysteme für komplexe Faserverbundwerkstoffe an. An der Schnittstelle zwischen Faserverbund, Maschinenbau und Software entwickelt das Unternehmen Produktionsanlagen und Software auf Basis der Fiber Patch Placement (FPP) Technologie: SAMBA und ARTIST STUDIO. Die Anlagen ermöglichen die automatisierte Ablage von Carbon- und Glasfasern, Klebefolien und anderen technischen Fasern auf komplexe 3D-Geometrien. Hersteller nutzen die FPP-Technologie, um z.B. Multimaterial-Composite Flugzeugstrukturen, Verstärkungen für CFK-Drucktanks und andere Hochleistungskomponenten in einem qualitätskontrollierten, vollautomatischen Legeprozess herzustellen. Der Umstieg von konventionellen Verfahren auf Fiber Patch Placement ermöglicht Kosten- und Zeiteinsparungen von 20-60%.

Kontakt:
Cevotec GmbH
Biberger Str. 93
82008 Unterhaching
Telefon: +49 89 2314 1650
Email: advantages@cevotec.com
www.cevotec.com

Über CIKONI:
CIKONI ist einer der führenden Anbieter von Entwicklungsdienstleistungen im Bereich der Faserverbundwerkstoffe in Deutschland. Durch Expertise sowohl in der Produkt- als auch Prozessentwicklung schlägt CIKONI die Brücke zwischen Struktureigenschaften und Automatisierung, um neue Klassen von Faserverbundbauteilen und Fertigungstechnologien für Kunden zu entwickeln. Mit langjähriger Erfahrung in der Entwicklung von CNG- und H2-Druckbehältern aus Verbundwerkstoffen bietet CIKONI Lösungen für Simulation, innovatives Design und Qualitätssicherung.

Kontakt:
CIKONI GmbH
Zettachring 12A
70567 Stuttgart
Phone: +49 711 26375600
Email: info@cikoni.com
www.cikoni.com

Über Roth:
Roth Composite Machinery (Roth) entwickelt und fertigt Sondermaschinen für verschiedene Industrien, wie die Bürsten- & Besenproduktion, die Filterherstellung und die Veredelung von bahnenförmigen Medien sowie insbesondere für die Faserwickeltechnologie (Filament Winding). Roth ist bekannt für kundenspezifisch konzipierte Maschinen- und Automatisierungen mit perfekter Passgenauigkeit auf die Bedürfnisse der Anwendung und der Endproduktanforderungen. Im Geschäftsbereich Filament Winding & Prepreg bietet Roth seinen Kunden als Weltmarktführer Maschinen und Automatisierungslösungen für Hochleistungsprozesse an und unterstützt die Kunden damit sowie mit produktivitätserhöhenden Fertigungsprozessoptimierungen bei der Steigerung ihrer Wettbewerbsfähigkeit. Aufgrund des hohen Levels an Qualität in Präzision, Robustheit und Produktivität sind die Roth Maschinen erste Wahl z.B. in der Luft- und Raumfahrtindustrie, aber vor allem bei Herstellern von Hochdrucktanks für komprimierte Gase, wie Wasserstoff oder Erdgas, eingesetzt für alternative Antriebstechniken in nachhaltigen Mobilitätskonzepten.

Kontakt:
Roth Composite Machinery GmbH
Bauhofstr. 2
35239 Steffenberg
Phone: +49 (6464) 9150-0
Email: info@roth-composite-machinery.com
www.roth-composite-machinery.com

Cevotec has developed an industrial solution to reduce the amount of carbon fiber needed for a composite tank by locally reinforcing the tank’s dome areas. Fiber Patch Placement (FPP) is the first technology to lay-up dome reinforcements directly onto the liner using a fully automated, industrial process which can be combined with any existing wet or towpreg winding equipment.

This approach reduces net fiber usage by approx. 15%, depending on the vessel characteristics, which translates into considerable weight and cost savings while maintaining equivalent mechanical properties. Due to the material reduction, the reinforced tanks can also feature more storage volume in the same build space and have an improved CO₂ footprint.

To underpin Cevotec’s approach, an optimized full-scale demonstrator has been successfully developed in collaboration with the project partners. The primary goal was to optimize the fiber lay-up to reduce weight, cost and production time. The project comprised all aspects from laminate design, simulation and optimization driven by CIKONI, to the actual production and testing of the reinforced tanks. Additionally, the effectiveness of FPP dome reinforcements within an industrial production environment has been evaluated. With the successful completion of the third design iteration, the project partners have achieved the intended results.

“The 300 bar type IV tank has a thinner composite overwrap with a lower number of layers to be replaced by dome reinforcements, which is a challenging set-up compared to 700-bar-class vessels”, explains Dr. Florian Lenz, Technical Director of Cevotec. “To achieve the optimal material saving design, different laminate iterations were pursued. In a third iteration, we, together with the project partners, successfully achieved a burst safety factor of 108% and material savings of 15%.” Due to the material savings, the CO₂ footprint is significantly reduced and the storage efficiency of the test vessel can be increased to 6.1%, which represents an improvement of 17% compared to the reference vessel.

Cevotec is currently assembling a dedicated FPP production system for dome reinforcements in their lab in Unterhaching near Munich. The SAMBA Pro PV Lab system will be available for commercial prototyping and development with customers in spring 2024. Thorsten Groene, CEO and Co-Founder at Cevotec, underlines the strategic relevance of industrial dome reinforcements: “The expected fiber demand for H₂ tanks will outgrow available fiber supply in the next 5-10 years. Technologies like FPP that enable resource savings are strategically important for global competitiveness.” Interested parties can meet the teams of Cevotec, CIKONI and Roth at JEC World, the leading international composites show in Paris, March 5-7.

About Cevotec:
Munich-based automation specialist Cevotec offers one of the world’s most advanced production systems for complex fiber composites. At the intersection of composites, mechanical engineering and software, Cevotec develops production systems and software based on Fiber Patch Placement (FPP) technology: SAMBA and ARTIST STUDIO. The production systems enable the automated lay-up of carbon fiber, glass fibers, adhesive films and other technical fibers on complex 3D geometries. Manufacturers use FPP technology to produce e.g. multi-material aerostructures, composite pressure vessel reinforcements, and other high-performance components in a quality-controlled, fully automated process, which enables them to realize cost & cycle time savings of 20%-60% when switching from conventional processes to Fiber Patch Placement.

Contact:
Cevotec GmbH
Biberger Str. 93
82008 Unterhaching
Phone: +49 89 2314 1650
Email: advantages@cevotec.com
www.cevotec.com

About CIKONI:
CIKONI is one of Germany’s leading providers of engineering services related to composite materials. Having both internal product and process development capacities, CIKONI bridges the domains of structural performance and automation to develop new classes of composite material products and manufacturing technologies for customers. With many years of development experience in the field of CNG and H2 composite pressure vessels, CIKONI provides solutions for advanced simulation, innovative design and quality inspection.

Contact:
CIKONI GmbH
Zettachring 12A
70567 Stuttgart
Phone: +49 711 26375600
Email: info@cikoni.com
www.cikoni.com

About Roth:
Roth Composite Machinery (Roth) designs and manufactures specialized machinery for various industries, including Brushes & Brooms, Pleating & Coating, and Filament Winding & Prepreg. Roth is known for their high-performance mechanical engineering and tailor-made customer-specific machine designs, perfectly matching application and end-product needs. In the world market leading business unit Filament Winding & Prepreg, Roth serves customers by suppling competitiveness increasing automation solutions by optimizing production processes with enhanced productivity, precision, and reliability. Their machines are used e.g. in the aerospace industry but especially by manufacturers of high-pressure tanks for compressed hydrogen and natural gas, supporting sustainable mobility concepts.

Contact:
Roth Composite Machinery GmbH
Bauhofstr. 2
35239 Steffenberg
Phone: +49 (6464) 9150-0
Email: info@roth-composite-machinery.com
www.roth-composite-machinery.com

Nach der Präsentation des neuen Cevotec FPP Anlage SAMBA Pro PV auf der diesjährigen JEC in Paris, welches auf die Herstellung von Verstärkungen für Wasserstoffdruckbehälter spezialisiert ist, hat Fuji Industries eine erste Bestellung für ein solches FPP System aufgegeben. Damit ist Fuji der erste Anbieter, der diese Technologie auf den japanischen Markt bringt. Dieser strategische Schritt spiegelt das Engagement des Unternehmens wider, die Produktionsfähigkeiten des Landes für Verbundwerkstoffe zu fördern und die lokale Industrie mit fortschrittlichen, hochmodernen Technologielösungen zu unterstützen.

"Mit Fiber Patch Placement ist es möglich, die Kuppelbereiche von Typ 4 Wasserstofftanks zu verstärken, was zu beträchtlichen Materialeinsparungen führt. Diese Technologie hat das Potenzial, einen neuen Standard für Drucktanks zu etablieren. So können wir unsere Kunden mit genau den Automatisierungsoptionen zu unterstützen, die sie für ihre zukünftige Wettbe­werbs­fähigkeit benötigen ", erklärt Junji Yamada, Präsident und CEO von Fuji Industries.

Fuji Industries plant ein breites industrielles und wissenschaftliches Engagement mit dem ersten FPP System in Japan. Um dies zu ermöglichen, wird die Anlage an einem strategischen F&E-Standort platziert, der für relevante Industrieunternehmen in der Luft- und Raumfahrt und Wasserstoff-Industrie zugänglich und gut in das japanische Ökosystem der Composite-Forschung integriert ist.

Die von Fuji bestellte SAMBA-Anlagenkonfiguration ist für die automatisierte Herstellung von Kuppelverstärkungen für Drucktanks aus Faserverbundwerkstoffen geeignet. Sie verfügt über eine temperaturgesteuerte Materialschneide- und -zuführeinheit und einen Pick & Place-Roboter mit 6 Achsen für hohe geometrische Flexibilität bei der Ablage. Drucktank-Liner in den Abmessungen 800 – 3000 mm (Länge) und 300 – 1000 mm (Durchmesser) können auf einer längenverstellbaren Rotationsachse montiert werden. Die Anlage ist mit einem Bildver­arbei­tungs­system zur Qualitäts- und Positionskontrolle ausgestattet. Im zusätzlichen Freibereich der FPP Produktionszelle können auch stationäre Tools platziert und somit der Anwendungs­bereich auf die Luft- und Raumfahrt- sowie Automobilindustrie ausgeweitet werden.

"Wir sind stolz darauf, Fiber Patch Placement auf den japanischen Markt bringen zu dürfen und freuen uns auf eine erfolgreiche Zusammenarbeit mit Fuji Industries", sagt Thorsten Gröne, CEO und Mitgründer von Cevotec. Er betont außerdem die strategische Bedeutung: "Die erwartete Nachfrage nach Fasern für H₂-Tanks wird in den nächsten 5-10 Jahren wahrscheinlich das verfügbare Angebot übersteigen. Technologien wie FPP, die Materialeinsparungen im zweistelligen Bereich ermöglichen, sind strategisch wichtig, um langfristig auf dem Weltmarkt wettbewerbsfähig zu bleiben."

Following the preview of Cevotec’s new FPP system SAMBA Pro PV, dedicated to the production of reinforcements for hydrogen pressure vessels, at this year’s JEC in Paris, Fuji Industries has placed an order for the specialized FPP system and thus becomes the first mover to bring this technology to the Japanese market. This strategic move reflects their commitment to advancing the country’s composites production capabilities and support the local industry with advanced, state-of-the-art technology solutions.

"With Fiber Patch Placement it is possible to reinforce the dome areas of type 4 hydrogen tanks which leads to sizable material savings. This technology has the potential to establish a new standard in composite tank production – it enables us to support our customers with new automation options that they need to stay competitive”, states Junji Yamada, President & CEO of Fuji Industries.

In order to enable broad industrial and scientific engagement with the first FPP system in Japan, Fuji Industries is planning on placing the system at a strategic R&D location that is accessible to relevant industry companies in aerospace and H₂ and is well integrated in the Japanese composite research ecosystem.

The SAMBA system configuration is mainly suited to the production of dome reinforcements for composite pressure vessels. It features a temperature-controlled automated material cutting & feeding unit and pick & place robot with 6 axes for high geometrical flexibility. The robot cooperates with a length-adjustable rotational axis in which the vessel liner is mounted. Suitable liner dimensions are 800 mm to 3000 mm in length and 300 mm to 1000 mm in diameter. The system features a vision system for quality inspection and position check. By placing stationary lay-up tools in free spaces of the FPP cell, the range of applications can also be extended to aerospace and automotive applications.

“We are excited to bring Fiber Patch Placement to the Japanese market and looking forward to a successful corporation with Fuji Industries”, says Thorsten Groene, CEO and Co-Founder of Cevotec. He further underlines the strategic relance: “The expected fiber demand for H₂ tanks will likely outgrow available fiber supply in the next 5-10 years. Technologies like FPP that bring double-digit material savings become strategically important for staying competitive long-term in the global market.”