Volkswagen

Volkswagen Autoeuropa: a lifting device from 60 kg to 4 kg

3D printing arrived at Volkswagen Autoeuropa in Palmela, Portugal, at the end of 2014. In early 2024 the plant had only 18 FDM desktop printers, mostly printing PLA and TPU; continuous carbon fiber printing was introduced in June 2024.

The narration says these continuous carbon fiber parts are usually about five times stronger and a third lighter than in their steel form. The first parts went into the stamping area; the lifting devices show the weight saving most clearly, from 60 kg to 4 kg. The new printer also lets Palmela supply printed parts to Volkswagen Navarra and SEAT Martorell in Spain, as part of the Iberian region 3D strategy.

CLAAS

CLAAS: a printed chain link lifts a whole combine harvester

CLAAS often needs chain links to lift its combine harvesters. According to Mark3D’s video description, the harvesters weigh over 17 tonnes, the links wear quickly under the load and conventional manufacturing was costly; the 3D printed links are many times cheaper and last even longer.

In the video, the link is printed in fiberglass and nylon, with a print time of more than four days. The test at the end lifts a CLAAS LEXION combine on the printed link, with the scale reading 17.24 t and 17.16 t.

thyssenkrupp

thyssenkrupp: printed parts in series production on battery lines

thyssenkrupp Automation Engineering builds assembly lines for EV battery modules and packs. According to Mark3D’s video description, the company uses the Markforged FX20 and other industrial 3D printers to produce hundreds of components in series production, integrated directly into those lines, for flexibility, cost savings, reliable load-bearing and shorter development time.

Mark3D quotes thyssenkrupp’s Martin Krüger in the description: reliability, the easy-to-use Markforged system and repeatability are the decisive differences for them.

Common thread

What the three have in common

Three industries, the same kind of part: components that carry load and are used every day on the line — lifting devices and grippers at a car plant, lifting links at a machinery maker, fixtures on battery lines — and all of them past the prototype stage.