BMW (Munich / Germany; www.bmwgroup.com) has opened an “Additive Manufacturing Campus” in Oberschleißheim / Germany, investing around EUR 15m at the site. BMW is aiming to group activities related to additive manufacturing under a single roof, from the manufacturing of prototypes and series parts through research into new 3D printing technologies to training of employees. The carmaker sees enormous potential in toolless production and is driving the use of 3D printing in order to be able to manufacture car components more economically.

Originally, the facility was set to begin operations in early 2019 (see Plasteurope.com of 20.04.2018). A company spokesperson would not say why the project was delayed by more than a year. The German newspaper Münchner Merkur blames it on “construction-related reasons.” The fact is that in some models, individual additive-manufactured parts have already been used as standard for some time now, such as in the Rolls-Royce “Phantom”, the BMW “i8 Roadster” and the Mini “John Cooper Works GP”. Last year alone, BMW produced around 300,000 parts by additive manufacturing. Its new plant currently has around 80 employees and operates about 50 industrial 3D printing systems that work with metals and polymers. Another 50 systems are in operation at other production sites around the world.

In addition to 3D printing processes for metal, series production of plastic parts also plays a key role. Because of the great design freedom in 3D printing, new designs and functions can be taken on that could not be done with conventional manufacturing processes. Also of importance is the digital link-up of process steps and a consistent methodology of quality assurance. The aims of the joint “Polyline” project financed by the German Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF), in which 15 partners are involved, include a fully integrated and automated production line for the high-volume manufacture of plastic parts and a reduction of the production costs by up to 50%. Several German universities as well as 3D printer manufacturer Eos (Krailling / Germany; www.eos.info) are also part of the project.

Important contributions are being made by new processes such as the “digital light synthesis” technology that was developed by Carbon (Redwood City, California / USA; www.carbon3d.com – see Plasteurope.com of 25.01.2018). Material properties such as the strength, hardness and temperature range can be adjusted by a “programmable” resin mixture. The process allows a very fast build-up process (up to 100 times faster than SLA processes) with excellent part accuracy (+/-0.1 mm). BMW has been investing in the company via its venture capital arm since 2016.