News and Insights of 3D Printing and Manufacturing
Tesla fan website MunroLive published a teardown video of the new Tesla Model Y that was launched – quite softly – at the end of last March, in the midst of Coronavirus crisis-related supply chain issues. Possibly to address those issues, the video shows that the Model Y’s HVAC system integrates a partly 3D printed part.
The Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand resumed vehicle production at its Wolfsburg plant on April 29th with the early shift beginning at 6:30 a.m. Initially, Golf production will recommence on a one-shift basis — with reduced capacity and longer cycle times. The Wolfburg plant also hosts VW’s 3D printing center and a number of 3D printers. It’s not yet clear if and how newly approved healthcare safety policies at VW will affect the adoption and installation of new production-ready systems at the automaker. The new regulations are expected to reduce contact between employees and thus drive an increase in production automation, but it still remains to be seen whether AM workflows will be able to accommodate this new demand.
In our automotive focus last month, we spotlighted many of the automakers using additive ...
“New manufacturing processes only come once every several decades,” says Jonah Myerberg, Co-founder and CTO of Desktop Metal, one of the most interesting companies in the global additive manufacturing landscape today. In this one-hour webinar, Mr. Myerberg discusses how Desktop Metal’s bound metal AM technologies can benefit manufacturing processes at all levels.
Although we have not been able to establish a direct channel with their team, EDAG remains one of the most interesting, innovative and capable firms in the entire automotive additive production scenario. After showing some of the interesting cases and research studies in the automotive segment, the German design studio is now tackling materials with the CustoMat_3D research project.
Luxury car manufacturer Porsche has introduced a new concept for sports car seating that leverages 3D printing and lattice design. The seating concept, called “3D-printed bodyform full-bucket seat,” enables customers to personalize their seat for comfort and is partly inspired by seat fittings designed for professional motorsports.
The overlap between the additive manufacturing world and the automotive industry is growing each year. At the forefront of their respective disciplines are Desktop Metal and the Ford Motor Company, whose recent partnership has improved creativity and productivity at the world-renowned carmaker.
The Ford Motor Company today announced its strategy to support the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. As part of the plan, it is partnering with 3M and GE Healthcare to help scale up production capabilities for medical equipment and necessary supplies using its expansive manufacturing capacity. The automotive leader is also leveraging its in-house 3D printing capability to produce components for personal protective equipment, and plans to assemble over 100,000 face shields per week.
Japanese automaker Honda is hoping to reduce the impact of its vehicles on the environment using smart design and advanced manufacturing processes. Recently, for instance, the automaker’s R&D department teamed up with software company Autodesk to redesign and 3D print a crankshaft component to make it lighter and more fuel-efficient.
The Bugatti factory – like those of just about every major automaker in Europe – is closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, however, development and automated production is ongoing at APWORKS, one of its suppliers. The advanced manufacturing firm is additively manufacturing the extremely lightweight and highly temperature-resistant exhaust tailpipe for the latest Bugatti Chiron Pur Sport.