Rail transport producer Alstom is working with Replique to additively manufacture customised serial components resembling stainless-steel doorstoppers.
Alstom has beforehand leveraged 3D printing expertise for spare components and is now leveraging Replique’s additive manufacturing capabilities to provide serial components on-demand and decentrally. As a result of Alstom operates worldwide and every practice part has totally different necessities, Alstom has been seeking to harness a ‘scalable resolution for decentral manufacturing in industrial grade high quality.’
In addressing a selected buyer request, Alstom and Replique have additively manufactured a number of doorstoppers for a partition door that can divide the passenger compartment of a diesel a number of unit into a primary and second class. Alstom turned to additive manufacturing due to the small portions required and, with Replique guiding the rail firm in materials and expertise choice, delivered the doorstoppers in simply six weeks.
The doorstoppers, which had been produced in BASF’s Ultrafuse 316L materials on a Fused Deposition Modelling machine, went by cautious qualification due to its must fulfil its operate over the complete service lifetime of the practice. As it’s a seen part, the half additionally wanted to fulfill excessive aesthetic requirements.
Alstom says the doorstoppers had been manufactured in a ‘cost-neutral method’ in comparison with standard strategies, and plans to additional exploit the expertise by producing topology-optimised designs of recent parts.
“Additive manufacturing is now a key a part of our provide chain,” commented Ben Boese, 3D Printing Hub Supervisor of Alstom Transport Deutschland GmbH. “With Replique, we profit from 3D printing and supplies experience, in addition to a decentralised manufacturing community masking all related places and applied sciences. Their end-to-end service allow us to reply quicker and extra cost-effectively to totally different buyer necessities.”
“Alstom has already proven up to now how 3D printing might be built-in in a lean and cost-efficient manner,” added Dr. Max Siebert, Replique founder and CEO. “They’re pioneers in additive manufacturing, and we stay up for supporting them on their journey to simplify and totally digitise their provide chain for all printable sequence and spare components.”
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