In 2014, Local Motors printed the first 3D printed car from an ABS carbon-fiber blend. They call it The Strati.
John Fleming, Former EVP, Manufacturing and Labor Affairs at Ford Motor Co., showed this video of The Strati during his presentation at the American Automotive Summit. He explained, “I showed this video not because I think Ford or anybody else is soon going to be 3D printing whole cars, I don’t see that. But I do see additive manufacturing as one of the technologies that is going to be one of the most critical in the future because it has the opportunity to do things that we’ve never been able to do before – to design components and manufacture them like we’ve never been able to before – and I do think it will disrupt the business, and this is happening already.”
Indeed, 3D printing is a big opportunity for the automotive industry. It will make vehicles stronger and lighter as well as allow for mass customization. Currently, associated costs and slow print speed of additive manufacturing systems hinder this technology from being used for mass production, but the opportunity is so great that we can expect to see it being used more and more as the technology advances.
Dirk Hilgenberg, VP, Assembly at BMW, told the audience at the American Manufacturing Summit that 3D printing has become a commodity for BMW. They are now producing over 25,000 prototype parts per year, which has sped up the hardware design phase significantly. 3D printing is also being used for spare parts. Rather than having spare parts built and lying somewhere, which is an investment in assets, BMW can create them on demand. (For more insight into how BMW is approaching Digital Transformation, read this).
Ford, too, is moving from using additive manufacturing sheerly for prototyping purposes to making parts that can go right in the vehicle. Since December 2014, the company has been working with Carbon 3D, a company which developed Continuous Liquid Interface Production (CLIP), a 3D printing technology that grows parts from UV curable resins at speeds as much as 25 to 100 times faster than conventional printing processes.
Join the conversation on new manufacturing technologies at the 2018 American Manufacturing Summit!