printing to produce
tools and spare parts
for several years across
sites. Responsible
for maintaining and
servicing over 100
trains a month, its RRX Digital
Maintenance Center in Germany
has completely digitalised
its operations. Harnessing a
company-wide digital inventory,
Siemens Mobility is able to react
quickly to changes in service
requests by 3D printing essential
tools and replacement parts for
its trains on-site, as required.
Importantly, this shift in
business model has completely
removed the company’s
dependency on suppliers.
Siemens Mobility now produces
only what is needed, without
warehousing. This has resulted
in huge time savings for the
business – as much as 95% for
some parts.
Siemens Mobility isn’t alone;
several other forward-thinking
companies have embraced
additive manufacturing at a
strategic-level way before the
COVID-19 pandemic struck.
Aerospace giant BAE Systems,
has placed a raft of industrial
Stratasys 3D printers at the heart
of its successful Factory of the
Future initiative in Samlesbury,
which has seen a large reduction
in costs and time-to-market,
as well as helping the company
to improve its production
fl exibility. Likewise, industrial
giant Schneider Electric
3D PRINTING OCTOBER 2020
Above: Siemens
Mobility was
one of the
many global
manufacturers
to embrace 3D
printing during
the pandemic
in the event of another wave or other future crisis’.
Moreover, outside of an emergency, the network
of 3D printers will be available to address any local
hospital’s needs for low volume part production,
such as customised patient-specifi c medical models
used to improve patient care.
Beyond medical products
In any instance in which the supply chain is
impacted, the lesser the dependency manufacturers
have on external suppliers, the better. Businesses
fully exploiting 3D printing’s capabilities reduces
such dependency, enabling increased agility and
self-suffi ciency to ensure continued production.
AP-HP is a case in point. So is Deutsche Bahn.
In the industrial world, many of our customers
tell us that should certain production-line tools
break, this would result in a total shutdown of
the assembly-line. In a period of supply chain
disruption, needing a replacement tool can become
a big problem. Progressive manufacturers, such
as Deutsche Bahn, are reducing their dependency
on the supply chain by leveraging 3D printing to
manufacture spare parts in-house, on-demand, as
and when required. When COVID-19 lockdowns
took place across Europe, the company’s supply
chain for spare parts was decimated. Turning to its
in-house 3D printing capabilities, Deutsche Bahn
was able to produce a number of these spare train
parts on-site in the exact quantities needed to
ensure production schedules were upheld.
Not just a solution when times are bad…
While COVID-19 has highlighted the fragility
of supply chains and put 3D printing into the
spotlight, resiliency is a benefi t in less unusual
times too. Having 3D printers at each site enables
manufacturers to move away from the traditional
centralised production model reliant on supply
chains to deliver parts, instead opening the door to
decentralised production.
For example, transportation giant Siemens
Mobility has been successfully deploying 3D
has embarked on
a large-scale Industry 4.0
implementation across its
worldwide operations, designed
to increase operational
effi ciency and reduce costs
for its customers. As recently
announced, Stratasys 3D
printing also plays a key role
within this initiative, with its
factory in Navarra, Spain alone
saving more than €20,000
a year on assembly-line
tooling. The company also
reports a reduction in supplier
dependency, importantly
increasing production fl exibility
and accelerating time-to-market.
Ultimately, businesses of
all sizes should recognise 3D
printing as a strategic asset
and not just a tactical piece of
equipment in the design lab or
factory fl oor. While COVID-19
may have been 3D printing’s
watershed moment in the eye
of the mainstream, it’s only the
beginning. As many businesses
refl ect on the pandemic’s
impact on their supply chains
and production operations,
3D printing may just hold the
answer as ‘resiliency’, ‘effi ciency’
and ‘profi tability’ become
the common objectives for
businesses as they plan amidst
an uncertain future.
22 www.manufacturingmanagement.co.uk
/www.manufacturingmanagement.co.uk