ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING
GrabCAD Print is now available for use on the Neo SLA platform
FROM PRINT TO ROAD C
Jake Holmes speaks with Andrea Langford and Fadi Abro to discover how additive manufacturing can benefit OEMs
hange will always inspire one of the following two: fear or opportunity. When working with modern
technology, change is inevitable. The automotive industry is at the forefront of change, partly through legislation and partly through the advancement of technology and the ever-growing expectations of customers. Additive manufacturing is
currently being used in the automotive industry in three broad cases; prototyping and product development, manufacturing support, and finally production parts such as spare parts or after-market parts.
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www.engineerlive.com Fadi Abro, global director of
transportation at Stratasys, says: “I think everyone inherently knows the benefits of 3D printing for product development. You can make parts really quickly and you can do design verification, and the benefits of that are still immense because you’re going to stop problems from happening downstream. The product development is still incredibly important for automotive.” Abro adds: “Manufacturing support
is where you are helping manufacture the product, not necessarily taking a part, manufacturing it and putting it in the car, but using a tool or a fixture of
some kind to help make the assembly process in the manufacturing process more effective and efficient and save some money along the way.”
AFTER-MARKET MODIFYING After-market manufacturing can have large benefits to all parties involved. Roush Performance is an after-market car modifier, with one of its more famous ranges being adaptations to a Ford F-150. The company was able to achieve cost savings through using additive manufacturing, as it only required 2,000 units of its mounting brackets.
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