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Inside Ford's 3D Printing Center Where More Than 20K Parts Are Made Each Year

Posted by samzenpus on from the print-and-drive dept.

Lucas123 (935744) writes 'Ford has been using 3D printing for rapid prototyping since the mid-1980s, but in recent years it has ramped up its efforts adding new machines and materials. A tour of the facility revealed four different methods of 3D printing being used to prototype parts. For example, Ford uses Nylon 11 and laser sintering to make parts that can be retrofitted to working vehicles and tested over thousands of miles. The center also uses binder jet printing to form molds for metal prototypes by laying down layers of sand that are then epoxied together. Just one of its five 3D prototyping centers churns out more than 20,000 parts a year. Today, Ford could not meet new vehicle deadlines without 3D printing.'

29 of 49 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Obligatory FORD Acronym Jokes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Ford = Fix it again, Tony

  2. How can I not be a Cynic... by Anna+Merikin · · Score: 2

    When the information so clearlyy calls for it.

    At its Dearborn Heights, Mich. facility, 14 different industrial 3D printers turn out 20,000 parts a year.

    H'mm ... that's approx 6 parts per machine per working day.

    Not much of a story here, just PR.

    1. Re:How can I not be a Cynic... by Hamsterdan · · Score: 2

      I'm wondering how many of those parts could be made on a standard CNC, and if they only use the printers for parts that would be too hard to machine with conventional processes.

      --
      I've got better things to do tonight than die.
    2. Re:How can I not be a Cynic... by Charliemopps · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Given design, setup/prep, printing/molding, and trim work, that's still quite impressive. Mass producing one thing over and over is easy. Changing your tooling to deal with a new part is what's hard. When I worked in factories, we'd get laid off for a week when it was time to switch products. The engineers needed time to swap everything out. It was equivalent to rearranging a huge house where all the furniture weight over 30tons. I'd imagine these places are setup for lots of rapid changes so it wouldn't be so bad, but it's still probably requires a lot of work. Also, I doubt the workers are your regular linemen. They'd almost have to all be engineers.

    3. Re:How can I not be a Cynic... by roc97007 · · Score: 2

      When the information so clearlyy calls for it.

      At its Dearborn Heights, Mich. facility, 14 different industrial 3D printers turn out 20,000 parts a year.

      H'mm ... that's approx 6 parts per machine per working day.

      Not much of a story here, just PR.

      Enh, perhaps. The story for me was this:

      > Ford has been using 3D printing for rapid prototyping since the mid-1980s

      Think of how recently 3D printing has entered common consciousness. Back in the eighties, I managed projects that involved (amongst many other things) creating custom parts via lost wax casting. And I had never heard of 3D printing at the time except as a joke in rec.humor. (The Xerox 3d printer is a great achievement, but the apple tastes of toner. That time the service guy was fixing it when someone accidentally turned it on -- the arm it spat out wrecked the copy room and had to be beaten into submission by security guards.)

      --
      Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
    4. Re:How can I not be a Cynic... by viperidaenz · · Score: 2

      I doubt they would only run 5 days a week.
      4 parts per machine per day

      Not really relevant though. If designing parts takes longer than printing them it doesn't matter how fast the printers are.

      Some just take a long time to print though

      A single binder jet print run can take as little as a week to as much as a month, depending on the job size and deadline

    5. Re:How can I not be a Cynic... by blackraven14250 · · Score: 1

      Stereolithography was patented in 1986. I would imagine Ford would be an early adopter (at least to buy one machine to see what they could do with it), so it's not really a claim I'd call completely crazy. This is the GP's point, but for 6 parts per day, that doesn't seem that crazy either - they likely run the machines 24/7 and produce mostly small parts with them.

    6. Re:How can I not be a Cynic... by samkass · · Score: 2

      Given design, setup/prep, printing/molding, and trim work, that's still quite impressive. Mass producing one thing over and over is easy. Changing your tooling to deal with a new part is what's hard. When I worked in factories, we'd get laid off for a week when it was time to switch products. The engineers needed time to swap everything out. It was equivalent to rearranging a huge house where all the furniture weight over 30tons. I'd imagine these places are setup for lots of rapid changes so it wouldn't be so bad, but it's still probably requires a lot of work. Also, I doubt the workers are your regular linemen. They'd almost have to all be engineers.

      When I wrote a bunch of software for InvisAlign over 10 years ago, we were ramping up to a capacity of 20,000 unique plastic parts per day while printing over half of that every day. I can only imagine what they're doing today. The actual printing was mostly stereolithography making molds, pressure forming, then CNC cutting them off, but there was also scanning, modeling, approvals, labeling, mesh cleanup, supports, etc., which all had to happen in 3d. The automation required to get all that humming along was substantial (lots of patents, and not just "on the internet" ones...)

      --
      E pluribus unum
    7. Re:How can I not be a Cynic... by 91degrees · · Score: 2

      I'd presume demand varies unpredictably though. Once you do haver a set of designs, you don't really want to wait for more than a day or so for a part if you don't have to, but there are going to be times when no team is in the prototyping stage.

    8. Re:How can I not be a Cynic... by flyneye · · Score: 1

      Id be more impressed if it werent CV or Universal joints being printed....
      The damned oil burners probably been printing piston rings....

      --
      *Repent!Quit Your Job!Slack Off!The World Ends Tomorrow and You May Die!
    9. Re:How can I not be a Cynic... by MobyDisk · · Score: 1

      Not much of a story here, just PR.

      So the difference between a story, and PR, is the volume of parts made per working day? There are many more interesting things to discuss and learn about 3D printing than solely speed.

    10. Re:How can I not be a Cynic... by Anna+Merikin · · Score: 1

      OK: Here's both barrels.

      It used to take five years or more to develop a new model auto, back in the twenties through 60s. This lag time caused bad decisions like the introduction of 12- and 16-cylinder cars in the middle of the Great Depression and Edsels, planned in 1952-3 and introduced in 1958, after the target market had lost their jobs in a deep recession.

      These printers doubtless help reduce the time and make carmakers more nimble.

      That's the real story, and it is neither in TFA nor the summary.

      Call me a cynic....

  3. Why did you stick a Fiat joke in here? by clay_buster · · Score: 1

    Fiat = Fix it again Tony....

    1. Re: Why did you stick a Fiat joke in here? by kiwi_jackal · · Score: 1

      Because of this: http://youtu.be/3AJCdmW33fM

  4. News for nerds, stuff that matters by viperidaenz · · Score: 1

    Company has been doing something for over 30 years, someone hears about it now and its news because its 3D printing?

    3D printing is not new, the only thing relatively new is the cost of fused deposition printers.

    1. Re:News for nerds, stuff that matters by sd4f · · Score: 1

      That's correct, it's the fact that the patent expired, and much cheaper devices could be made and sold without problems. However, I do think that 20 years ago, the state of CAD software and processing power wouldn't have had the best time on home computers. The slicers that create the gcode do take a fair bit of number crunching. I think it would have made printing much slower, significantly more so than it already is.

  5. Re:Obligatory FORD Acronym Jokes by bswarm · · Score: 1

    F'd Over Rebuilt Dishwasher

  6. Re:Obligatory FORD Acronym Jokes by drinkypoo · · Score: 2

    Found On Road Dead

    Driver Returned On Foot.

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  7. CNC by umafuckit · · Score: 1

    Wow. Manufacturing company uses CNC machine to build stuff. Couldn't manage without it. Whatever next?

    --
    soylentnews.org
    1. Re:CNC by ArcadeMan · · Score: 1

      Publishing company uses printer to print books. Couldn't manage without it. Whatever next?

      --
      Get free satoshi (Bitcoin) and Dogecoins
  8. It's Not About Plastic Guns by sycodon · · Score: 3, Insightful

    All these things 3D printing can do now. Imagine in 5-10 years what they will be able to create.

    And people are having stupid arguments about plastic guns. Talk about a limited vision.

    --
    When Fascism comes to America, it will call itself Anti-Fascism, and tell you to give up your guns.
    1. Re:It's Not About Plastic Guns by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      And people are having stupid arguments about plastic guns. Talk about a limited vision.

      It's not a limited vision, it's a disingenuous response to the actual vision that so many corporate masters are having of the day when they can no longer convince people that they are necessary enablers instead of outright parasites.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    2. Re:It's Not About Plastic Guns by drinkypoo · · Score: 2

      Sounds like one of those idiot signs at a OWS protest.

      I'm not responsible for your failures, whether of reading comprehension, extrapolation, or imagination.

      Is there something in there that is actually relevant to anything in his post or the story?

      Like most technological developments of any note, 3d printing will eliminate entire industries. I'd say it's pretty relevant. In any case, if you don't like a thread, don't reply to it. You're only making the threads you don't like grow.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  9. What guns? by swillden · · Score: 1

    So... what kinds of guns has Ford made on their fancy printers? I'd like to see some comparisons of guns made with the four different printing processes.

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    Note to ACs: I usually delete AC replies without reading them. If you want to talk to me, log in.
    1. Re:What guns? by GNious · · Score: 1

      As long as none of the guns are made "by laying down layers of sand that are then epoxied together" .... yeah, Epoxy might be strong, but I'd really not trust that gun.

    2. Re:What guns? by Neil+Boekend · · Score: 1

      Are the insides of a gun exposed to temperatures above 60 C (140F)? Then normal epoxy won't hold and the sand comes out the barrel with the gun.
      Sand/epoxy printing seems to me to be a high strength relatively low temperature product. Like you need for a press for steel.
      For guns they'd use their laser sintered metal 3d printer. Laser sintered metal is sort of like cast iron: heat resistant but brittle. So it won't hold up to many shots.

      --
      Well, I might have a way, but it only works on a semi spherical planet in a vacuum.
  10. Re:Obligatory FORD Acronym Jokes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Ford = Fix it again, Tony

    You're thinking of a FIAT, Dale

  11. Great Move!!! by derrick11 · · Score: 1

    Yaay, this is really great move by $F & now they can support old vehicles without needing to worry about inventory.

  12. Technological Advancement!!! by alex.taylor084 · · Score: 1

    Such technological advancement will allow $F to maintain its even much better position in automotive industry