The Lasers4MaaS ‘(Laser-as-a-Service’) project, funded by the European Union, is set to  commence in December 2024. Lasers4MaaS recognizes the strategic importance of digital servitization of laser welding processes and builds upon the rapidly growing advancement in dynamic laser beam shaping as “all-in-one” welding tool, allowing many new materials and process optimizations to be enabled from the same laser source. The initiative aims to improve manufacturing processes across industries by integrating advanced laser welding technologies with digital platforms to enable flexible, scalable, and sustainable production solutions.

The project, coordinated by Dr Pasquale Franciosa, head of the laser beam welding group at WMG, brings together an international consortium of leading academics from the University of Stuttgart IFSW (Germany), TU Wien (Austria), University of Leiden (The Netherlands), and industry experts from Civan Lasers (Israel), United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UK), ECOR International (Italy), IL Sentiero International Campus (Italy), Officine Metallurgiche Cornaglia (Italy), FFT Produktionssysteme (Germany), Futurice (Germany), and the European Photonics Industry Consortium EPIC (France). The project is also supported by an industrial advisory board which is open for new members.

To kick off this exciting journey, WMG will host an open-day event on January 28th, 2025, focusing on the use of dynamic beam shaping for high-power laser beam welding, one of the core targets of Lasers4MaaS. This free event will bring together researchers, industry leaders, and stakeholders to explore the potential of this cutting-edge technology and its applications in sectors such as automotive, aerospace, food packaging and renewable energy.

Lasers4MaaS aims to address the pressing need for sustainable and efficient manufacturing solutions. Key innovations include: enhancing flexibility and precision in laser welding and material processing in general by deploying dynamic beam shaping, leveraging real-time data and physics-informed machine learning/artificial intelligence, seamless data integration for real-time monitoring, quality control and predictive maintenance, and delivering sustainability and design-x-circularity and shape digital product passport to achieve sustainable and decentralized manufacturing.

United in Lasers4MaaS, the twelve partners from academia and industry aim to transition advanced manufacturing technologies from TRL 4 to TRL 6, ensuring their readiness for real-world applications.

Further reading: Axel Luft (Scansonic MI), Pasquale Franciosa (WMG), Philip Marben (Scansonic MI): In search of the perfect process: Laser welding of electric vehicle battery cases, PhotonicsViews 20(5), 36-39, First Published: 08 September 2023; DOI: 10.1002/phvs.202300035 • Eyal Shekel (Civan Lasers): Dynamic beam shaping with coherent beam combining, PhotonicsViews 21(3), 26-29, First published: 29 May 2024; DOI: 10.1002/phvs.202400023