German newspaper Handelsblatt is already calling it the “Flixbus of the sheet-metal industry”: The three founders of Laserhub intend to facilitate smart sheet-metal production. Their platform networks production facilities; according to their statement, it currently has access to 230 machines. According to the start-up, users benefit from the expertise of the “best and most modern sheet-metal processors in Germany.” Obviously, this idea has also garnered interest from investors. Project A , from Berlin, has recently joined the other backers of the project. The additional capital will be invested in technical expansions for the platform and in internationalizing the project. In just the past few months, around 1,000 customers have ordered components with a combined weight of 615 tons, as Laserhub director Christoph Rößner reports.

Users who want to use their own machines for sheet-metal processing might appreciate the new Kuka robot. It is able to pick up components autonomously and feed them into a grinding machine, among other tasks. The robot can handle 30 different sheet-metal parts.