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Which Car Manufacturer is using 3D Printing to maximise efficiency?

Did you know that a major car company is using 3D Printing to help reduce their development time by 95% and as a result are also saving more than 90% in their production costs?

Well, that is exactly what Volkswagen is doing to help cost effectively introduce engineering innovations and new car models at their Portugal based manufacturing plant, which produces over 100,000 cars per year and employs 4,000 people.VW2_57ecc0275e7f6ac208d532e0c964479164be68e3.jpg

With a set of Ultimaker 3 (124-9474) and Ultimaker 2+ (918-8695) printers, their engineers and line technicians no longer rely on external vendors when they need gauges, jigs or fixtures. Instead, they are designing and 3D printing their own on-demand.

By using this 3D design and printing approach the engineers are able to produce tools with complex designs and geometries, like cavities, undercuts and overhangs, which has not been a viable option with traditional tool manufacturing. In fact, Volkswagen Autoeuropa printed over 1,000 parts last year using their Ultimaker printers and saw a 100% ROI within just 2 months. That equates to a $150k saving in 2016 and an estimated increase to $250k in 2017. 

The ability to iterate on demand by simply tweaking the CAD file and re-printing also provide additional benefits to ensure that enhancements and revisions are easy to produce, along with the reduction in both cost and delivery times involved with ordering those same parts traditionally.VW3_0ee58e98813938a20a106dfba2a61aa23fd25c76.jpg

A previously impractical jig or fixture design is now a viable option; function and performance become the main drivers of design, not cost or time.

This kind of solution provides scalability too, as the CAD files can be easily shared with anybody around the world with Internet access to then be 3D printed locally.

However this is not just a solution that can be adopted by large automotive firms such as Volkswagen, the low cost of initial investment and small learning curve involved with using a 3D CAD tool such as our free DesignSpark Mechanical software alongside 3D printing makes it accessible across many industries.  

Jos Burger, CEO of Ultimaker said; “The automotive industry has been a pioneer in the use of additive manufacturing to drive efficiencies, and Volkswagen Autoeuropa is a prime example of this type of forward-looking approach. We have seen on average a reduction of tool lead time from sixty to just six days, which dramatically increases productivity for manufacturers like Volkswagen Autoeuropa.” 

Luis Pascoa of Volkswagen Autoeuropa added; “Since we have integrated Ultimaker’s 3D printing technology into our process, 93 percent of what we previously sourced externally is produced in-house. In addition to the time and cost savings we realize, the tools we output are more complex and ergonomic – and, ultimately, far more useful in our day-to-day operations because they are tailored to our needs.”

I am a 32-year-old tech lover, self-confessed geek and football fanatic! When I am not playing with the latest gadget you will often find me watching my favourite TV shows including Game of Thrones, Young Sheldon and The Big Bang Theory. Feel free to follow me on Instagram @robbiedunion or Twitter @robbiedunion
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