Founded in 1795, shipbuilder Meyer Werft GmbH (Papenburg, Germany) produces a wide range of vessels, including large, ocean-going cruise ships, container ships, riverboats, and car and passenger ferries. Its facilities on the Ems River in northwestern Germany employ approximately 2,500 people.

In response to increasing demand for its vessels, the company recently decided to expand its laser welding operations through the implementation of a pair of TruDisk 10003 CO2 laser welders and a TruFlow 12000 CO2 laser welder from precision equipment manufacturer Trumpf Group (Ditzingen, Germany).

In addition to plate welding-an area in which Meyer Werft has been employing laser welders for some time-the new laser welders will be used to perform welds on I-joints. Meyer Werft has also long employed laser technology in its steel-cutting operations.

“We tested several laser beam sources to find the best laser for us,” says Meyer Werft director of steel preproduction Herman Lembeck. According to Lembeck, the Trumpf products’ “excellent” welding results and process dependability stood out from that of the competition.

Lembeck adds that the Trumpf disk systems’ absolute control over output power was another deciding factor. “Reproducible process results that do not depend on ambient conditions are crucial to us,” he says.

For more on laser welding, visit www.trumpf-laser.com.