BMW has long recognized that the people in its workforce are key to efficient production. As such, they have undertaken a number of efforts to create the best possible supports for their employees. The Munich BMW Vehicle Assembly plant workers are getting bespoke thumb splints, created with additive manufacturing techniques, in order to reduce the stress placed on their joints while carrying out assembly processes. These personal orthotic devices are created individually by scanning each recipient’s hand in a mobile hand scanner.
The devices are created using thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU), a hybrid material mixture of hard plastic and soft silicone, with a proven record of successful application in orthotics. BMW produces these devices in-house, using selective laser sintering to build them up layer by layer. The long-term goal of BMW is to discover ways to make appropriate assembly aids for their workers, as a standard aspect of their plants’ production procedures. Currently, they are gathering feedback from the group of workers using the splint and report that they have received very positive feedback.
The creation of these thumb cots is part of a dissertation being supervised in the Department of Ergonomics at the Technical University of Munich, and is being evaluated as part of BMW’s Industry 4.0 plan.
Discuss the use of 3D printing to make these very unique thumb cots in the BMW 3D Printed Thumb Cot forum thread on 3DPB.com