Metallic 3D printing: Series production of automotive parts on the home stretch

Press Release /

“We have succeeded in industrializing and digitalizing additive manufacturing (AM) for automotive series production.” With pride, 12 project partners announce that this has been doubly successful with IDAM (Industrialization and Digitalization of Additive Manufacturing). Three years ago, the consortium of SMEs, large companies and research institutions started with the common goal of revolutionizing metallic 3D printing in the field of automotive series production. Together, they set up a digitally networked, fully automated 3D printing production line at two locations at once and prepared it for automotive series production. From now on, at least 50,000 components per year can be manufactured cost-effectively at the BMW Group sites in Munich and at GKN Powder Metallurgy in Bonn using the laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) process, as well as more than 10,000 individual and spare parts. Due to the modular design of the blueprint of this line, the annual number of units can be further scaled as required.