TRUMPF fires mega laser to mark 100th anniversary

TRUMPF fired a 3-kW show laser on Aug. 3 to mark its 100th anniversary. Photo: TRUMPF

This year marks the 100th anniversary of fabricating equipment manufacturer TRUMPF, based in Stuttgart, Germany. To mark the occasion, the company fired one of the world’s most powerful show lasers on the evening of Aug. 3, 2023. Under the right weather conditions, the laser was visible up to 50 miles away.

The green laser light is produced by a particularly energy-efficient laser with 3 kW of power. Show lasers are not part of the manufacturer’s core business, so its customers would normally use this kind of system for tasks such as welding electric vehicle batteries.

The company was founded in 1923 when Christian Trumpf and two partners acquired the mechanical workshops previously occupied by Julius Geiger GmbH in Stuttgart. This laid the foundations for the company, which from 1937 operated under the name TRUMPF. From the mid-1930s, the company produced manual machinery for simple sheet metal processing tasks. In the 1950s, the company’s focus shifted to stationary machine tools. As early as 1985, TRUMPF launched its first laser.