Production at the push of a button
Bahn has spare parts produced in a 3D printer
05/20/2023, 11:25 am
Train spare parts are only available with long delivery times using conventional procurement methods. For this reason, Deutsche Bahn is increasingly relying on 3D printing for maintenance. This saves time, money and resources.
More and more spare parts for Deutsche Bahn trains come from the 3D printer. Since the first coat hook in 2015, the state-owned group has processed around 100,000 components from the 3D printer, as reported by the railway. These also include operationally relevant metal parts weighing more than half a ton.
“The challenge is not necessarily in the printing and the number of printed parts, but in the digitization of the blueprints,” it said. These are a prerequisite for the 3D printing of spare parts. The railway is therefore building a database with digital twins of the individual components. By 2030, this database should grow from the current 1,000 to 10,000 spare parts – “ie about ten percent of the parts used in vehicle maintenance”.
3D printing “saves time, money and resources because we can use a ‘digital warehouse’ to produce spare parts at the touch of a button,” said Chief Technology Officer Daniela Gerd tom Markotten. The delivery time for a gearbox for a shunting locomotive, for example, can be reduced from ten months to two months with digital production.
The technology also saves resources because, unlike the machining process, the spare parts are not milled from a large block of metal with a lot of residual material. According to its own statements, the railway operates its own printers, but primarily relies on a partner network with more than 140 companies.