3D printing the replacement parts on demand makes the process less expensive, and negates the need to keep a large backstock of parts. Customer Services & Parts has been working with Daimler researchers and pre-developers since 2016 to continue improving upon and growing the use of 3D printing technology to make plastic parts, and now the company says that 3D printing high-quality plastic components has “successfully established itself as an additional production method, and is particularly suitable for the production of smaller batches.”
“The availability of spare parts during a workshop visit is essential for our customers – no matter how old the truck is, or where it is located. The particular added value of 3D printing technology is that it considerably increases speed and flexibility, especially when producing spare and special parts,” said Andreas Deuschle, Head of Marketing & Operations in Customer Services & Parts at Mercedes-Benz Trucks. “This gives us completely new possibilities for offering our customers spare parts rapidly and at attractive prices, even long after series production has ceased.”
Deuschle said, “With the introduction of 3D metal printing technology, Mercedes-Benz Trucks is reasserting its pioneering role among global commercial vehicle manufacturers. We ensure the same functionality, reliability, durability and cost-effectiveness with 3D metal parts as we do with conventionally produced parts.”
The 3D printed replacement parts production journey for Mercedes-Benz Trucks began with aluminum parts, like the thermostat cover, that are not ordered very often, and offer 100% density and high purity. No costly development work or special tools were needed to produce these strong parts, so this saved the company even more money. The new die-cast aluminum alloy thermostat cover, for trucks and Unimog (Universal-Motor-Gerät) models from older series that stopped production 15 years ago, is a great example of high-quality, spare metal parts produced in a cost-effective way, as it’s only ordered in small numbers.
While Mercedes-Benz uses an SLS technique to print plastic parts, SLM is used to print its metallic components, such as the thermostat cover, made with powdered aluminum/silicon material (ALSi10Mg). Due to the layering technique inherent to 3D printing, the parts can be made with a high level of geometrical freedom that’s not possible in other methods of production.
Eventually, as digitization advances, Mercedes-Benz hopes to be able to provide highly specific, cost-effective 3D printed metal components to its customers, in high OEM quality, anywhere in the world. 3D metal printing may even allow for direct, faster local production of parts in worldwide Mercedes-Benz locations, which would negate cost-prohibitive warehouses and complex transportation processes.
At the moment, Mercedes-Benz believes other replacement parts that could conceivably be 3D printed out of metal, in small numbers, include in-engine parts, peripheral engine parts, transmissions, chassis, axles, and parts in cooling systems. Discuss in the Mercedes-Benz forum at 3DPB.com.
[Source/Images: Daimler]