The BMW Group has bolstered its dedication to additive manufacturing (AM) because it appears to be like in the direction of the longer term and the implementation of AM throughout all phases of its automobile life cycle.
In accordance with a new Q&A with BMW Group’s Head of Additive Manufacturing Timo Göbel, who got here on to steer its Additive Manufacturing Campus (AMC) in Oberschleißheim final 12 months, BMW Group is alleged to be persevering with its funding technique in AM and is “actively shaping the transition of additive manufacturing into a completely built-in and extensively established manufacturing know-how – each technologically and organisationally.”
3D printing has been a big a part of the German automaker’s toolkit for a while. It was the recipient of EOS’s first Stereos 400 system all the best way again in 1990. It is now used to construct parts in collection manufacturing automobiles throughout all of its manufacturers, beginning with polymer brackets for the Rolls‑Royce Phantom in 2012 and steel parts for the BMW i8 Roadster in 2017. Since opening in 2020, greater than 1.6 million parts have been manufactured on the AMC, with greater than 100,000 parts produced at automobile vegetation worldwide yearly. It is usually actively embedding AM experience and coaching throughout the organisation to “create the muse for sustainable scaling all through your entire firm.”
Göbel mentioned the corporate is “clearly on observe towards the broad industrialization of additive manufacturing.” Talking about its adoption throughout the BMW manufacturing community, he shared that AM is changing into an “more and more vital device for quick, versatile, and technically superior growth processes”, whereas newer applied sciences like Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing (WAAM), which BMW started exploring in 2024, are enabling the manufacturing of bigger parts in larger portions.
Göbel supplied an additional replace on BMWs integration of WAAM, which is at present present process switch into collection manufacturing for the manufacturing of enormous‑format parts. Car testing is alleged to have been underway since 2025, and collection manufacturing of the primary parts is predicted to begin in 2027.
Additive manufacturing methods from Farsoon, HP and TRUMPF (now ATLIX) inside BMW Group’s AMC. (BMW Group)
Göbel additionally spoke about how automated, digitally networked course of chains, open-material methods and open interfaces are a “key pillar” of BMW’s scaling technique, and mentioned future know-how portfolio investments might be constructed round these necessities.
Talking about how BMW scouts new applied sciences, Göbel defined that the corporate has already built-in subprocesses from the Industrialization and Digitalization of Additive Manufacturing (IDAM) mission (a mission consortium funded by the German Federal Ministry of Training and Analysis in 2019 to ascertain automated steel 3D printing manufacturing strains), and is now wanting in the direction of integrating an ‘solely new era of steel 3D printers’. In polymers, in the meantime, Göbel mentioned methods that “reliably meet the excessive efficiency requirements” will more and more be deployed sooner or later, together with absolutely series-ready methods, and custom-designed gear.