X

GM is embracing the future with 3D printing in its factories

General Motors uses 3D printers in many of its factories to create tooling and fixtures quicker and more cheaply than it could source them from outside vendors.

Kyle Hyatt Former news and features editor
Kyle Hyatt (he/him/his) hails originally from the Pacific Northwest, but has long called Los Angeles home. He's had a lifelong obsession with cars and motorcycles (both old and new).
Kyle Hyatt
2 min read
GM

Not that long ago it seems, 3D printing seems like a weird, fringe gimmick, something that neckbeards did in their garage to make parts for their Battlebots. But the truth is that it has completely changed the way manufacturing works in small scale. Even huge multinational companies like have seen this and are taking advantage.

Rather than using 3D printing to make parts for cars, something that at GM's scale would be wildly expensive and inefficient, it is using the technology to produce tooling and fixtures for a number of its factories, but in particular its Lansing Delta Plant.

99-ford-stratasys-infinite-build-3d-printer.jpg
Enlarge Image
99-ford-stratasys-infinite-build-3d-printer.jpg

This is an example of an industrial-scale 3D printer, in this being used at Ford, but it takes up relatively little space in a massive factory, and its uses are myriad.

Nick Miotke/Roadshow

According to Automotive News, GM's 3D printer at Delta Lansing cost it approximately $35,000, but it has already saved the company more than $300,000 in tooling costs. As an example, the factory uses a special fixture to align VIN plates on vehicles. To buy this from a third party would cost the company upward of $3,000, but to print one in-house costs around $3.

It's these kinds of highly specific and low-volume pieces that 3D printing is perfect for, and when you couple that with the ability to have the person making the tools on-site be a part of the problem-solving process, you begin to see enormous benefits in terms of efficiency.

See how 3D printing is used to make airplane parts

See all photos

The Delta Lansing plant uses a number of processes that are part of what GM is calling "Manufacturing 4.0", which also includes things like using drones to inspect various assembly stations quickly, and "collaborative robots" that are able to work with humans and don't need to be confined to safety cages to prevent injury.

Watch this: AutoComplete: Bugatti shows 3D-printed titanium brake calipers

While technology like 3D printing is still too slow and expensive to use in large scale, it may not be that long before that changes, allowing factories to become less dependent on outside suppliers, or allowing dealerships to print their own replacement parts, and that would be pretty cool.

How to prep your car for a road trip:  Avoid some stress and get your wheels in shape to hit the road this summer.

How to decide if a hybrid or electric car is best for you: Roadshow's team of experts helps you weigh the pros and cons.