Ford and 3DPrinting - Leading Another Revolution
It seems like Ford is really adopting the idea of 3D printing. About 100 years ago this company was revolutionizing manufacturing via the assembly Line. Henry Ford would be proud of the new direction his company is taking. They have been using 3D printing to help produce a number of parts for their latest vehicles. These include:
- Engine cover for all-new Ford Mustang
- Rotor supports, transmission cases, damper housings and end covers for new HF35 hybrid transmission for Ford C-MAX Hybrid, Fusion Hybrid
- Four-cylinder EcoBoost® engines for new Ford Fusion
- Brake rotors for Ford Explorer; the rotors were modified using 3D printing late in development to fix a brake noise discovered in durability testing, which could have delayed initial launch
- Exhaust manifolds for 3.5-liter EcoBoost in Ford F-150
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The company, which was pretty much the first to use the assembly line, creating a revolution within the manufacturing sector, seems to be at the forefront of the latest revolutionary manufacturing technique, 3D printing. They are literally saving millions of dollars a year because of 3d printers. For example they recently created a prototype of an intake manifold for just $3000. The normal cost would be about 166 times that amount... $500,000
“Many have referenced this technology as ushering in a third industrial revolution,” said Harold Sears, Fords additive manufacturing technical specialist. “While that is yet to be determined, what we do know is manufacturing is continuing to go digital, the speed of these technologies is increasing and the variety of materials is expanding – all of which leads us to believe 3D printing presents a great opportunity for overall manufacturing.”
Clearly this is a trend that should continue to see higher and higher adoption rates among worldwide manufacturers.
