戴姆勒 (Daimler) 汽車使用 3D 印表機製造備件

李貞慧，直擊 3D 列印進入你生活，商業週刊 1512 期 2016/11

德國戴姆勒 (Daimler) 汽車也準備用 3D 印表機製造自家生產的卡車零件。今年 9 月起，該公司已用 3D 印表機製造了樹脂彈簧蓋等 30 種可更換的零件。 

這些都是修理、更換服務的必要零件，必須備存貨因應客戶不時之需。而且因為不知道客戶何時會用到，只好每家店都備存貨。

不過，只要使用 3D 印表機，就能等到有客戶下單時再個別生產零件，讓店裡不再需要囤貨。戴姆勒今後的方針是連金屬零件都要以 3D 印表機生產。

Nick Hall, Daimler keeps on trucking with 3D printing,  3d Printing Industry, JULY 24, 2016.

The world’s largest manufacturer of trucks has turned to 3D printing to produce spare parts for its vast range of trucks. 

Daimler has joined the likes of Audi and BMW, who have both adopted additive manufacturing for producing spare parts on a ‘just in time’ basis....

It’s easy to see why.  The companies have to produce vast amounts of spare parts to cover their entire catalogue of old and new vehicles. They then have to ship them globally and store them, which is clearly an inefficient and expensive process. 

With 3D printing they can keep a central database of files and each region can simply print the part as and when required. The savings are massive and it also means that the companies can speed up their service. With this system they don’t have to order obscure parts from a central depot and leave a customer’s vehicle off the road while they wait for delivery. 

When a car or truck goes out of production, it’s almost impossible to ensure that there is a healthy supply of parts available. With 3D printing then a manufacturer can continue to support its older models by simply saving the files on the database. This is a big step forward for the manufacturers, classic car enthusiasts and also commercial enterprises that rely on older trucks to get them through the working week....

As an industry, we expect 3D printing to take over the production line at some point. At the moment speed is the main obstacle and brands also trust the consistency of traditional manufacturing techniques. Once 3D printing is up to speed, though, which has to happen at some point, then it should replace the $45 million metal presses that currently produce the bodywork for a Daimler truck or Mercedes-Benz passenger car.