Between 1988 and 2000, inpro made decisive contributions to the introduction of high-power solid-state lasers into automotive production. The diverse work on transferring the latest scientific and technical findings to industrial applications included process development, the development of novel beam sources and beam guidance systems, and automated process control. inpro was the first to consistently use solid-state lasers and was the driving force behind the development of systems with medium output powers in the kW range.
The transfer of inpro employees to the shareholder groups was a key to the establishment of solid-state laser beam welding, which reached series production capability in the 1990s. Today, it enables the production of vehicles with highest quality, improved safety as well as increased comfort.
The importance of the innovation is also reflected in the success of the companies involved. HAAS Laser, which was acquired by the world’s leading machine tool manufacturer TRUMPF, was directly involved in the development of solid-state laser beam welding at inpro as an implementation partner. In addition, several companies were established in the Berlin area in connection with the inpro work. These include the company HIGHYAG Lasertechnologie GmbH, the company Photon Laser Engineering GmbH, the company Scansonic IPT GmbH and the company SIKORA GmbH, all of which operate successfully on the market today, have created numerous highly qualified jobs and supply important components or services for the automotive industry.
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“inpro can proudly claim to have significantly advanced the worldwide implementation of high-power laser systems in automotive production through the work and successes of the laser technology work area. Out of the drive for innovation and implementation at that time, several project team members have founded their own companies and successfully placed them on the market, including Photon AG, which now has 200 employees.”
inpro
