General Motors sees great value in 3D printing, and one day, the machines will be integral to the manufacturing process. Today, however, 3D printers take on smaller tasks, though they still pinch pennies for the automaker and create additional synergies.
Automotive News Europe reported on Wednesday that 3D printers have the ability to save GM millions of dollars in annual production costs. Right now, the savings are minimal; a $35,000 3D printer has saved the company more than $300,000 over two years in tools and other accessories. In the future, expanded use will only create additional savings.
The printer at the Lansing Delta plant, for example, created a tool to align engine and transmission vehicle identification numbers. The tool would normally cost $3,000 from a third party—GM 3D printed the piece for less than $3.
GM also imagines 3D printing will help keep costs and weight down for future electric cars, as the company unveiled GM and Autodesk are working together to eventually manufacture 3D-printed parts and components last May. GM showed off a 3D-printed stainless steel seat bracket created with Autodesk technology, and the part is 40 percent lighter and 20 percent stronger than a traditional component.
Workers at the plant often submit suggestions to further use the 3D printer to create a safer and more efficient manufacturing environment, too. Socket covers, hangers for parts and other ergonomic and safety tools are a few of the expanded uses for the 3D printer.
How sure is GM of its future in 3D printing? There will be one in every single manufacturing facility someday, per Dan Grieshaber, GM’s director of global manufacturing integration.
“We’re quickly evolving, creating real value for the plant,” he said. “This will become, as we progress, our footprint. We’ll have this in every one of our sites.”
Comments
What a lot of people don’t understand is how slow 3D printers are that has to be built into the cost…
“GM showed off a 3D-printed stainless steel seat bracket created with Autodesk technology”…Can that same autodesk technology be used to create stamped parts?
Can. Every form can be created with 3D “printing”.
It is just a question of cost, which includes time, by which way parts are being formed.
3D “printing” is suited for very complex parts and small runs.
It can also revolutionize the supply of replacement parts. Instead of warehousing a multitude of parts, 3D printers could produce all parts in the remotest corners of this planet.
Yesterday’s 3D printers were slow, today’s are faster, tomorrow faster again. The parts printed are getting more accurate and stronger with each generation of equipment.
There may be a day when the current auto manufacturers become solely designers, testers and certifiers.
Authorized car assemblers anywhere in the world take the design files and make the car for you from pre-built parts (eg tires, glass and electronics?) with the rest ‘printed’ locally.