New 3D printing centre opens to support our electric future

At Ford we’ve been utilizing 3D printing since the 1990s when we used it to create components for test vehicle and prototypes. It’s helped us become quite expert in it, to the point we created the largest metal part ever made using 3D printing back in 2019.
 
Now, as we gear up for production of the first fully electric volume model to come out of Europe later this year with our conversion of facilities at the Cologne Electrification Center, we’re adding enhanced 3D printing capabilities with a new 3D printing centre.

Here, twelve high-tech 3D printers produce a wide variety of plastic and metal components measuring up to 2.4 metres long, 1.2 metres wide and 1 metre high, and weighing 15 kilograms using the largest printer.
 
Primarily the printers produce tools and fixtures for our manufacturing areas like measuring gauges for checking dimensions, templates for attaching the Ford logo, and in the future massive gripper constructions as attachments for robots in body shell construction. We can also quickly and efficiently print components for pilot and small series vehicles.

 
Not only does this 3D printing save time, money and have an element of sustainability as the shredded granules can be reused, but we’ve also enabled low-threshold access. That means every Ford employee can submit an application via an app, adding their own drawing of the part they want or describing what they need it for, and the 3D design team can then make it for them.
 
This time-lapse video shows how a holder for sheet metal samples is created in the Ford 3D printing centre.

 

Follow @FordNewsEurope