Designing new products and parts takes time, as does making parts for production or actually making the final product. This can be done faster and cheaper with 3D printing. Consider, for example, local production of specific parts or faster prototyping that speeds up product development. These are three examples of ways 3D printing is used in the production process:
1. Faster product development
BOSEbuild is the division within BOSE that designs DIY speakers and headphones. When the development team began designing a new pair of BOSEbuild headphones, there was a pressing need for a rapid prototyping process. With 3D printers in-house, BOSEbuild was able to design a part of the headphones and print it straight away. This meant the components could first be tested and further developed internally before going into production. Instead of spending three days and around 35 dollars on each iteration, it took the team just three hours and a maximum of two dollars to print a new version.
This example shows that a desktop 3D printer in the workflow brings ideas to life in no time: concepts and prototypes can be printed in a few hours. It is easier to make design decisions by immediately printing a number of concept versions during the initial stages of a product design and choosing the best option from them. By testing these prototypes immediately in real conditions, functionality, fit and manufacturability can be tested.
2. Manufacturing tools
3D-printed tools and other manufacturing aids ensure a smoother production process and better quality. In addition, 3D printing makes it possible to make tools on demand. If jigs, fixtures or other tools are needed, they can be printed and tested immediately.
Heineken is using 3D printing solutions to print customised tools and functional machine parts at its brewery in Seville, Spain. Heineken engineers can now directly design and print tools, machine parts and safety assurance tools themselves instead of outsourcing to external parties. This has increased production uptime and saved some 80 per cent of production costs on the parts being printed.
3. End-use parts
A third application of 3D printing is to produce small-volume custom-made end-use parts. This offers a lot of flexibility. Parts can even be made on site: while the customer waits, a part is printed immediately. In addition, parts can be printed for one-off projects and it is easy to print new parts immediately when they need to be replaced.
Snow Business uses 3D printers for prototyping, functional testing as well as making new nozzles for their snow machines. The company can now print new nozzles almost free of charge; a big difference from the previous outsourcing solution. The snow machine manufacturer estimates that the first printer it bought paid for itself within two weeks.
Innovation continues
As 3D printing has become increasingly easy and accessible, more and more new applications are being developed. Related software and cloud services enable companies to produce, on site and at the right time, only what is actually needed. The time and costs saved in this way, in turn, drive further innovations in the manufacturing process.
