Systematic Lightweight Design of Production Equipment with a Digital Toolchain

The importance of sustainable production is growing all the time. Lightweight design of production equipment is a possible measure to increase the sustainability. These potentials are often not used to their full extent due to a high focus on investment costs. To resolve this target conflict, this paper presents the lightweight design of production equipment based on a systematic development process and the corresponding digital toolchain. It includes a newly lightweight design technology planning tool to optimize cost, CO2 and weight from a production perspective. Based on a rough description of the component and previously modelled requirements an optimized shape, production process and material are recommended. Subsequently, the component can be further detailed with this knowledge. Through the digital toolchain the effects of different designs on the usage of the production equipment can be easily estimated. This enables the developer to identify the potential of lighter but more expensive components.