3D Printed Auto Parts

3D printing process enables swift realisation of customers' demands, small series and replacement parts.

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Daimler Buses is exploiting the benefits of 3D printing to produce small batches and replacement parts for the Mercedes-Benz and Setra brands. The company is making use of the advantages of this cutting-edge digital component and production technology. At the current point of time it is already possible to print complex parts located in the bus interior in a single step, which formerly consisted of several and in some cases even moving components. In this field Daimler Buses is drawing on over 25 years of experience with 3D printing processes in truck and prototype construction.

3D component production enables perfect solutions in response to the enquiries which are received on a daily basis from customers who are seeking special equipment features or waiting for a corresponding replacement part.

"In the medium term, we see digital production technologies as harbouring vast potential to enable us to address market and customer requirements in a flexible manner while at the same time minimising investment risks," says Hartmut Schick, Head of Daimler Buses.

3D printing provides the bus division within the Daimler Group with a means of responding swiftly, flexibly, economically and ecologically to individual customer requests and requirements for replacement parts. In top quality and with low production costs: the 3D parts correspond to the injection moulding standards stipulated by Daimler AG, while avoiding the costs relating to tool production, component storage and the disposal of surplus materials.

The potential of 3D printing is manifest in the area of special customer requests and replacement parts at Daimler Buses, where some 780 components have been printed for customer vehicles to date. In addition, more than 150 different replacement parts for buses are currently being scrutinised and validated with regard to their feasibility as 3D printed parts.