When Thomas Kaltenecker, a production planner at MTU Aero Engines, wants to explain the purpose and utility of his new automating dispensing system, he places two photos side by side. The picture on the left shows a large storage facility with multiple floors of silicone rings in dozens of colors, shapes and sizes hung over, under and alongside each other. The picture on the right shows a few cartridges filled with a gel-like elastomer lying on a table.
“Ultimately, both fulfill the same task—namely, covering over certain areas of engine components with masking material while other areas that are subject to particularly strong stresses and strains are given, say, a thermal spray coating,” Kaltenecker explains. “The masking material makes sure the spray coating doesn’t get onto areas where it’s not supposed to be.”