Automotive Prototyping and Production Qualification

The Additive Manufacturing (AM) industry continues to grow, and with that growth service bureaus must rise to higher standards for an expanding customer base. Early adoption use-cases for AM in the Automotive industry have been in R&D and competitive racing sectors, with those applications remaining prevalent. End-use production work for commercial consumer vehicles must meet a much higher level of quality in order to ensure consistency in both safety and functionality. Although this has been the standard for many years in other areas of the automotive industry, AM providers must overcome new production challenges with the inherent variability of 3D printing that accompanies the numerous benefits in design freedom and quick-turn parts.