German carmaker BMW has launched the company's 1 millionth 3D printing component, a metal roof bracket for the BMW i8 Roadster. BMW uses HP's multi-jet fusion technology, which is the first time this technology has been used in automotive production, to produce up to 100 pieces of 3D printed metal roof brackets in 24 hours. In the past 10 years, BMW has used 3D printing technology to produce 1 million parts. The company said that in 2018, they produced more than 200,000 parts by 3D printers, a year-on-year increase of 42%.
In May 2018, BMW announced that it plans to invest more than EUR 10 million to establish a new additive manufacturing R&D and production center in northern Munich, Germany. Almost at the same time, General Motors announced that it will use Autodesk's newly designed software to produce 3D printed products and manufacture lightweight components in the future. Recently, Mercedes-Benz also announced that it will use 3D printing technology to produce small-volume parts such as sunroof slides in special classic models. In addition, there are a number of automakers competing to fund startups related to 3D printing technology. In the next three to five years, 3D printing auto parts will usher in a wave of explosive growth.
Sited from Foundry World.