By: Klaus Loeffler
TRUMPF Laser und Systemtechnik GmbH, Ditzingen, Germany
The automotive industry has been a target market for the laser soon after the invention of the laser in 1960. Mass production and flexibility have been the arguments for the laser. The first installations in 1973 all the way to late 1980 have been successful due to the missing industrial ready laser resonators. But the laser has seen a fast development over the years and with it the use of lasers in the automotive industry.