EvoBus GmbH, a Daimler company, has worked with plastics and metal 3D printing specialist EOS to help streamline spare parts production for its range of omnibuses.
The company’s customer services and parts (CSP) unit currently manages over 320,000 active spare parts, many of which are kept on stock, while minimum purchase volumes frequently lead to overproduction. ‘By implementing 3D printing within our CSP business model, we hope to reduce the rising warehousing and tool costs caused by our growing inventory of omnibus spare parts, while also continuing to improve supply performance to our end customers,’ said Ralf Anderhofstadt, Project Manager.
According to EOS, a pilot project to manufacture the first batch of components was successfully realized at the company in June 2017. As the project continues, plans are for EvoBus’s additive manufacturing (AM) portfolio to be expanded to include additional spare parts made from polymers and metals. Another phase of the project will also fully digitize any remaining components to improve the overall efficiency of the spare parts division of the business.
This story uses material from EOS,with editorial changes made by Materials Today. The views expressed in this article do not necessarily represent those of Elsevier.
