Rapid Parts Solutions, or RPS, is located in Shenzhen, China, the capital of commercial passenger car manufacturing. As part of the automotive ecosystem, RPS is the chosen part supplier for many tier 1 car manufacturers, offering rapid fabrication of prototyping to series production. RPS added two Farsoon Flight HT403P machines as an expansion of their manufacturing capabilities, offering comprehensive solutions of digital models, production, post-processing, and final products.
The development process of functional parts in new car models, especially with the rising popularity of electric vehicles is technology and design intensive with a need for high performance and accuracy. There is also an increasing demand for end-use part series customizing. Faster lead times and on-demand production is a challenge many automotive manufacturers are facing. These challenges are amplified with traditional part manufacturing, resulting in a large financial burden from labor, cost, the minimum number of parts required, and supply chains.
Before the introduction of Farsoon’s HT403P laser powder bed fusion systems, Rapid Parts Solutions was equipped with traditional machines including CNC, casting, injection molding, and 3D printing technology including SLA and DLP technologies. Because of the outstanding performance and durability of the functional parts built by plastic Laser Powder Bed Fusion Technology, they decided to add industrial laser sintering machines to their portfolio.
Manufacturing on Demand
Due to the improved production capacity achieved with the Flight HT403P, RPS has been receiving increasing series of customization orders from car manufacturers. RPS is able to deliver a much higher production yield and accelerated lead-time for on-demand production. This results in lower cost per part and optimization of the cost-volume curve using additive manufacturing versus conventional manufacturing. Each printed part has more details and a smooth surface finish with very little need for post-processing such as sandblasting. Also, thanks to Farsoon’s truly open platform, RPS is able to adjust processing parameters to achieve industrial quality and part performance to fit the functional requirements for end-use parts.
Take an example of the Automotive blower motor: it powers the fan in the HVAC system to stabilize airflow and defroster efficiency. Part strength, durability, and high-temperature performance are all functional requirements for this part. Due to the varying directions of the part components, traditional manufacturing of this part usually requires a 5-axis CNC machining or sand-casting process; which is time-consuming, labor-intensive, and expensive when compared to the on-demand parts numbers.
Using Farsoon’s Flight technology, the part production can be done in one single process and ready for delivery in just two days, compared to 10 days with traditional manufacturing. The production cost can be reduced at an average of 90% for small batch series customizing. The built part features high strength, which passes the impact and durability test.
“We are excited to have Farsoon as our partner in powder bed fusion technology; the simplicity of the machine operation and competitive price of the Farsoon materials help us achieve true economy production. With the increasing on-demand orders we have received since the two Flight 403P installations, we are now planning to add more systems to further expansion of our plastic laser sintering production capabilities”, said Mr. Deng, Head of RPS Additive Manufacturing Business Unit.
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Author: Andrea Gambini
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