One of the things our team love most about Additive Manufacturing is that often, it is the small applications that can make the biggest difference!
When it comes to reducing supply chains and streamlining production lines, 3D printing parts on demand can result in huge reductions in time and costs.
Here are three of our favourite ‘small but mighty’ Additive Manufacturing applications which have made huge differences to our customers' manufacturing processes:
LISI Aerospace is a manufacturer of fasteners for the aerospace industry. CREAT3D have worked with LISI Aerospace for a number of years, providing a range of 3D printers including brands such as Ultimaker and Markforged.
3D printing a separator finger in non-marring Nylon for one of their industrial machines instead of using the original metal part, resulted in scrappage costs dropping to £0. At a size of just 47mm x 3mm x 3-1.5mm, this really is an incredible example of ‘small but mighty’!
Separator Finger
Component Use | Separator to move fasteners in the groove process. |
|---|---|
Problem | 1. Original metal finger had a high risk of causing damage to fasteners, resulting in scrappage 2. Supplied only by the original machine manufacturer, in Stainless Steel. Not readily available as spare part. |
Solution | Separator finger re-designed and 3D printed in Onyx (non-marring Nylon) on the Markforged, at a cost of just £0.05. |
Outcome | Since replacing the line with the 3D printed finger: > £0 scrapping costs and zero damage. |
Provider of bespoke tooling and automation systems, EXTA manufacturers products for
automotive, aerospace, machine tool and transport industries.
Their 'small but mighty' additive application comes in the form of a custom fixture for in-house assembly line applications. The creation of this bespoke fixture would usually have been outsourced; CNC machined in four separate parts which would require later assembly.
Using 3D printing, Expert Tooling and Automation Ltd now 3D print the part in-house, resulting in huge cost and time savings.
Assembly Fixture
Traditional Fabrication | Cost of £300 per part, using CNC machining. |
|---|---|
3D Printing | Cost of £10.07 per part. |
Cost Saving | 96% cost saving. |
Time Saving | Lead time reduction from 3 weeks to 10 hours (98%). |
3. Mecmesin
Mecmesin specialise in the design and manufacture of force and torque testing equipment for a diverse range of sectors from aerospace, automotive, construction and cosmetics to electronics, medical & pharma and packaging. Mecmesin run a range of Additive Manufacturing technologies including Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF technology), Stereolithography (SLA technology) and Composite Fibre Fabrication (CFF technology).
Mecmesin use their 3D printing capabilities to print batches of bespoke stock parts, on demand, resulting in some of the biggest lead time and price reductions the company has ever seen.
Batch of 78 Nut Plates
Traditional Fabrication | Unit cost of £2.98. |
|---|---|
3D Printing | Unit cost of £0.11. |
Cost Saving | 96% cost saving. |
Time Saving | Lead time reduction from 5 weeks to 12 hours (98.5%). |
Looking to streamline your company's manufacturing capabilities with your own 'small but mighty' Additive Manufacturing applications?
Contact our team to discuss the best solution for your manufacturing goals.
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