From concept to series production – close to real-world conditions:
Research, Development and Innovation
New products and increasing requirements in a fast-paced world bring complex challenges: processes must be feasible early on, economically viable, and scalable – while meeting the highest quality standards. This is where Sonplas comes in.
We see your projects as a joint development task. Our research and development department combines many years of industrial experience with a strong curiosity for new technologies. We support you from initial feasibility studies and process and product development through to stable, reliable operation in your mass production.
Research, development and innovation at Sonplas: added value for your projects
HydroEROsive Machining (HERO) Sample shop Laser cutting Measurement and calibration for GDIHow do we support you in concrete terms?
- Early feasibility studies under real process conditions
- Definition of robust process windows
- Validation of function-critical characteristics
- Development and validation of test concepts
- Scalable solutions for series production systems
- System optimization after SOP (Start of Production)
Whether during the quotation phase, specification and requirement definition, or optimization of existing systems: we support you throughout the entire product lifecycle. The goal is always a stable, cost-efficient, and production-ready solution.
Would you like to know if a proven solution already exists for your application?
Or explore new approaches together with us?
Let us evaluate your challenge together!
HERO, the answer to your challenge:
How can Sonplas reliably achieve stable flow rates and burr-free geometries?
Burrs, sharp edges, or unstable flow rates can compromise functionality and service life. Especially in sensitive components of hydraulic circuits or in high-performance tools, irregularities at bore intersections, functional edges, or cutting edges are well-known challenges.
With hydroerosive machining, we selectively remove burrs, round sharp edges, and calibrate flow rates reproducibly within tight tolerances. Thanks to the new HERO Precision Jet process variant, the application is no longer limited to internal edges and bore intersections – almost all edges and surfaces can be machined. This enables targeted edge rounding, effective burr removal, and a significant extension of the service life of high-performance tools.
Typical challenges we solve together:
- Burrs in hard-to-access bore intersections
- Stress cracks in high-pressure components caused by sharp edges
- Need for precise flow calibration within tight tolerances
- Cavitation-related component damage due to unfavorable flow geometries
- Unwanted changes in flow rates over the component’s lifetime
- Chipping and premature wear of sharp cutting edges on tools
- HF components requiring sharp yet burr-free edges
The solution to all these challenges—and many more—is our HERO process.
The Sonplas HERO Laboratory
In our HERO laboratory, we conduct feasibility studies and support you from process development through to small-batch and contract manufacturing. Our experienced team assists you in the planning, execution, and evaluation of:
- HERO machining
- Flow measurement
- Component analysis using negative replicas, high-resolution microscopy, geometric measurement, or destructive testing
HERO process media are
tailored to your application
The HERO process medium is a key factor in achieving perfect machining results. That is why we develop and produce it exclusively at Sonplas in Straubing. Its formulation and precise adaptation to the component and process conditions are based on decades of process expertise—tailored to your components, your tolerances, and your series production requirements.
With our high-quality production setup, carefully selected raw materials, and many years of experience, we ensure:
- Reproducible machining results
- Precise and stable flow calibration
- Cost-efficient use due to low wear
- High media stability—even during extended storage
- Flexible adaptation of formulations to changing customer requirements
- Protection of know-how through fully in-house production
Do you require an abrasive medium for another application?
We also develop and produce your customized process fluid—always tailored to your specific requirements.
- Abrasive particles < 80 µm
- Oil- or water-based fluids
- Viscosities up to 10,000 mPa·s
- Batch volumes from 35 to 250 liters
Feel free to contact us.
Sample Shop “Assembly and Test”:
with prototyping and co-engineering to the perfect series production process
“Crazy” ideas are often the starting point for new products or disruptive improvements to established ones. But can that bold idea actually work? Can the product be assembled? Is production automatable and scalable?
We support you in answering these questions, build initial prototypes, test them, and already consider the requirements of series production from the very first trials. Through early co-engineering, product expertise and automation know-how can be combined in a targeted way to achieve the best possible result in terms of both product functionality and manufacturability.
Typical questions and tasks we solve together with you:
- Can my product be assembled automatically despite high magnetic forces?
- How can the scrap rate of our products be reduced in press-fit processes?
- Which adhesive is best suited for my product?
- Can the bonding process achieve more than 90% surface wetting?
- How can stick-slip effects, which cause high scrap rates in high-precision press-fit operations, be avoided?
- Which cold or hot joining process is suitable and cost-effective for my product?
- Which product characteristics need to be tested to ensure functionality and quality in production? (e.g. e-rotors, GDI pumps, GDI injectors)
- What degree of automation is required to achieve the target cycle time?
- Is the mechanical load on my component unacceptably high?
We are happy to support you
At Sonplas, you are in good hands. We support you with feasibility studies and proof of concepts, the development of assembly and testing concepts for your specific application, the setup of prototypes and small-batch production, process development up to series readiness, and the analysis of component loads using strain gauges. In our sample shop, we currently offer the following capabilities:
Cool and hot joining
- Also available as hybrid processes combining different technologies and energy sources
- Up to 100 kN; up to 200 mm/s; up to 750 mm stroke
- Flexible design for components up to approx. 650 mm in diameter
- Continuous force-displacement monitoring
Microhammering
- Joining increments < 1 µm: joining tolerances < ±3 µm achievable with high process reliability
- Joining forces up to 20 kN
- Reduced component stress compared to conventional press-fit processes
- Closed-loop control – achievable in cycle times of less than 10 seconds
- Joining based on displacement, stroke, opening pressure, or other physical parameters
Find more information about our patented micro hammering process here!
Magnet joining technologies
- With customized joining and bonding processes
- Process-reliable even with critically high magnetic forces
- Destructive evaluation of adhesive wetting possibl
3D dispensing
Together with our customers, we define and validate dispensing strategies, path trajectories, and process windows as the basis for reproducible series production.
- 1K/2K filling and bonding materials
- Travel ranges up to approx. 600 × 400 × 300 mm
- Optional UV curing available
- Programmable path profiles via CAD/CAM or manual teaching
Pressure, leak and flow testing as well as calibration
Within our R&D department, Sonplas develops a wide range of testing and calibration methods to ensure leak tightness, flow performance, and functional characteristics at an early stage. All concepts are tailored together with our customers to the specific application during product and process development.
- For air, nitrogen, helium, or liquid operating media
- Flow rates from approx. 75 to 40,000 ml/min
- Static and dynamic flow measurements
- Additional measurements possible: injector characteristics, functional and shot-to-shot measurements, rate curve analysis, cavitation studies
Laser cutting, the answer to your challenge:
How can complex materials be cut precisely, flexibly and cost efficiently?
Complex materials, sensitive geometries, or high precision requirements place special demands on cutting processes. Conventional mechanical machining often reaches its limits—resulting in high tool wear, excessive component stress, or insufficient cut quality.
With laser cutting, Sonplas offers a machining process that combines precision, flexibility, and cost-efficiency. The contactless process produces clean, burr-free cut edges – without mechanical stress or tool wear.
Laser cutting is particularly suitable for applications in the battery industry, medical technology, and hydrogen applications, as well as for prototyping and cost-effective small-batch production.
Typical challenges of our customers:
- Complex geometries must be cut with high precision
- Sensitive materials must not be subjected to mechanical stress during processing
- High requirements for cut quality and repeatability
- Flexible and cost-efficient processing for prototypes and small series required
With Sonplas laser cutting, high precision and repeatability can be ensured even for complex contours, while maintaining high process speeds and short cycle times. A wide range of materials—including metals, plastics, and advanced materials—can be processed contact-free and without mechanical deformation.
In addition to laser cutting, we also have extensive experience in laser welding. Challenging welding tasks and new applications can be analyzed, evaluated, and developed together with you in terms of feasibility and process stability.
How does Sonplas implement modern GDI technology
at the highest level?
GDI injectors and high-pressure pumps are at the core of modern gasoline injection systems and have a decisive impact on efficiency and compliance with emission standards. To ensure this, increasingly tight tolerances and limits must be met—placing high demands on measurement and calibration technology.
We support you in the detailed analysis of injector behavior with our expertise, decades of experience, and proprietary developments such as wet leak testing, the Active Flow Meter (AFM), and the IAV Cross Injection Analyzer for injection quantity measurement.
We are happy to support you
with our measurement and calibration equipment.
GDI injector module up to 1000 bar operating pressure with AFM technology (Active Flow Meter)
- Flow calibration
- Flow measurement including injector characteristics (ballistic, linear, static)
- Injection Analyzer for detailed analysis of injection rate
- Liquid leak testing
Calibration system for PRV opening pressure with micro hammering
- Highly precise adjustment of the opening pressure
- 100% measurement of the achieved opening pressure
- Cycle times < 10 seconds achievable in closed-loop operation
Your challenge,
our joint path to the solution
Whether established processes or entirely new ideas: with our extensive technical capabilities, decades of experience, and deep process know-how, we support you in turning an idea into a stable and cost-efficient series production process. We are particularly motivated by challenges where no ready-made solution exists. Together with you, we analyze the task, develop initial approaches, and validate them under real conditions.
Feel free to visit us on site and experience our technologies and capabilities firsthand—we look forward to developing your idea together with you. For your success.
