How BMW Group is Accelerating the Industrialization of 3D Printing
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The BMW Group is stepping up the systematic integration of additive manufacturing – commonly referred to as 3D printing – to employ the technology for industrial-level vehicle development and production.
At the company’s Additive Manufacturing Campus in Munich, Germany, precision plastic and metal components are constructed from computer-based 3D scans that are “printed upwards” layer-upon-layer until products are formed.
BMW says the most significant advantage of additive manufacturing is the degree of flexibility provided when building components with complex structures. High-quality vehicle parts with complex forms and structures that would otherwise be virtually impossible to produce using conventional tools can be manufactured quickly and easily using computer algorithms.