Skip to main content
Sister Publication Links
  • Sustainable Plastics
  • Rubber News
Subscribe
  • Sign Up Free
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • News
    • Processor News
    • Suppliers
    • More News
    • Digital Edition
    • End Markets
    • Special Reports
    • Newsletters
    • Resin pricing news
    • Videos
    • Injection Molding
    • Blow Molding
    • Film & Sheet
    • Pipe/Profile/Tubing
    • Rotomolding
    • Thermoforming
    • Recycling
    • Machinery
    • Materials
    • Molds/Tooling
    • Product news
    • Design
    • K Show
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Sustainability
    • Public Policy
    • Material Insights Videos
    • Numbers that Matter
    • Automotive
    • Packaging
    • Medical
    • Consumer Products
    • Construction
    • Processor of the Year
    • Best Places to Work
    • Women Breaking the Mold
    • Rising Stars
    • Diversity
    • Most Interesting Social Media Accounts in Plastics
  • Opinion
    • The Plastics Blog
    • Kickstart
    • One Good Resin
    • Pellets and Politics
    • All Things Data
    • Viewpoint
    • From Pillar to Post
    • Perspective
    • Mailbag
    • Fake Plastic Trees
  • Shop Floor
    • Blending
    • Compounding
    • Drying
    • Injection Molding
    • Purging
    • Robotics
    • Size Reduction
    • Structural Foam
    • Tooling
    • Training
  • Events
    • K Show Livestream
    • Plastics News Events
    • Industry Events
    • Injection Molding & Design Expo
    • Livestreams/Webinars
    • Editorial Livestreams
    • Ask the Expert
    • Plastics News Events Library
    • Processor of the Year submissions
    • Plastics News Executive Forum
    • Injection Molding & Design Expo
    • Plastics News Caps & Closures
    • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum
    • Plastics in Automotive
    • PN Live: Mergers and Acquisitions
    • Polymer Points Live
    • Numbers that Matter Live
    • Plastics in Politics Live
    • Sustainable Plastics Live
    • Plastics Caps & Closures Library
    • Plastics in Healthcare Library
    • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum Library
  • Rankings & Data
    • Injection Molders
    • Blow Molders
    • Film Sheet
    • Thermoformers
    • Pipe Profile Tubing
    • Rotomolders
    • Mold/Toolmakers
    • LSR Processors
    • Recyclers
    • Compounders - List
    • Association - List
    • Plastic Lumber - List
    • All
  • Directory
  • Resin Prices
    • Commodity TPs
    • High Temp TPs
    • ETPs
    • Thermosets
    • Recycled Plastics
    • Historic Commodity Thermoplastics
    • Historic High Temp Thermoplastics
    • Historic Engineering Thermoplastics
    • Historic Thermosets
    • Historic Recycled Plastics
  • Custom
    • Sponsored Content
    • LS Mtron Sponsored Content
    • Conair Sponsored Content
    • KraussMaffei Sponsored Content
    • ENGEL Sponsored Content
    • White Papers
    • Classifieds
    • Place an Ad
    • Sign up for Early Classified
MENU
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. News
May 29, 2019 04:40 PM

BMW sees potential of 3D printing in new business models

Audrey LaForest
Plastics News Staff
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Reprints Print
    Audrey LaForest
    "We believe that additive manufacturing might change the way that we could produce our cars or components in the future in a dramatic way," said Dominik Rietzel, BMW Group's head of additive manufacturing in the non-metals division.

    Detroit — As additive manufacturing matures, improvements in the technology can help companies to create economies of scale, but only if material costs are low.

    That was a point made by Dominik Rietzel, head of additive manufacturing in the non-metals division at BMW Group, during a keynote presentation at the Rapid + TCT trade show, held May 20-23.

    The German automaker identified eight important topics that are transforming automotive production such as smart data and analytics, automation, lightweight construction, electrified powertrains and, of course, additive manufacturing.

    "We believe that additive manufacturing might change the way that we could produce our cars or components in the future in a dramatic way," Rietzel said.

    BMW has been innovating in the field of prototyping for decades and is using 3D printing to produce foam-like prototype parts that mimic the real foam parts used in seats and dashboards, he said.

    "Every engineer on our site can upload this dashboard with this foam component. He can choose the foam type he needs to improve the manufacturing process or to improve the product, and we put the geometry in there directly," Rietzel said. "In this way, we want to mimic the behavior of the layer of foam in an ideal way, so that we can really improve the assembly process."

    But for series production, especially in automotive, "reliability is key," he said. "Our cars are driven in very rough conditions. We need to rely on every component in them."

    That's part of the reason why BMW developed its own additive manufacturing readiness levels, which is essentially a "generic approach" to utilizing the technology and validating 3D printed parts, Rietzel said. It's also something BMW openly shares with its suppliers.

    "We don't want to keep all the [intellectual property] on our side," Rietzel said. "We want to share it with the community, so that everybody can really improve their processes and supply us with parts in the future."

    Strong, long-term partnerships with additive manufacturing firms such as HP Inc. and EOS GmbH has helped the automaker achieve those types of product innovations in additive manufacturing.

    But tech startups also play a role in this. Through BMW's venture capital fund — BMW i Ventures Inc. — the company is staying on the forefront of the latest advancements in technology.

    "For us, the most important thing is to work closely together with them and understand the [key performance indicators] of such a new technology before they release the product," Rietzel said of BMW's access to startups.

    Changing the process

    Additive manufacturing is not only changing the way companies think about products, Rietzel said, but also how they create their business models.

    A prime example of this is BMW's Mini Yours Customized project, where consumers are able to customize and personalize various components, such as side scuttles and cockpit fascias, that are then 3D printed by the automaker.

    "Imagine having such a process in a big corporation that you can just upload something on your iPhone, and we can print it for you and send it directly to you," he said. "This isn't normal in this industry."

    For the project, Rietzel said BMW is using an automated production cell with two robots and two M2 printers from Carbon. With automation, the company can produce 504 pieces per week on each machine vs. 120 pieces in a manual production setup.

    "If you have a fast technology waiting, it doesn't help. … We automate where it makes sense and that means we are pretty lean now in the production process," he said.

    The research that went into automating that process is part of a big-picture view for how BMW is working to improve additive manufacturing for applications in the future. Rietzel said the automaker has started an initiative on additive manufacturing across the whole group, including production, design, engineering and IT departments.

    BMW has also identified four key topics to focus on for additive manufacturing within the organization: functional safeguarding for the approval process, individualization for all the different products offered, series production only where it makes sense and spare parts production where it is needed.

    In terms of BMW's corporate research, the automaker has identified technology development and the improvement and development of materials as two areas that still need to be addressed to take additive manufacturing to the next level.

    "You will always have to pay for it," Rietzel said of materials as a baseline cost. "This price will always be in those parts."

    RECOMMENDED FOR YOU
    Georgia home to new PET chemical recycling plant
    Letter
    to the
    Editor

    Do you have an opinion about this story? Do you have some thoughts you'd like to share with our readers? Plastics News would love to hear from you. Email your letter to Editor at [email protected]

    SIGN UP FOR OUR FREE NEWSLETTERS
    EMAIL ADDRESS

    Please enter a valid email address.

    Please enter your email address.

    Please verify captcha.

    Please select at least one newsletter to subscribe.

    Get our newsletters

    Staying current is easy with Plastics News delivered straight to your inbox, free of charge.

    Subscribe today

    Subscribe to Plastics News

    Subscribe now
    Connect with Us
    • LinkedIn
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Instagram

    Plastics News covers the business of the global plastics industry. We report news, gather data and deliver timely information that provides our readers with a competitive advantage.

    Contact Us

    1155 Gratiot Avenue
    Detroit MI 48207-2997

    Customer Service:
    877-320-1723

    Resources
    • About
    • Staff
    • Editorial Calendar
    • Media Kit
    • Data Store
    • Digital Edition
    • Custom Content
    • People
    • Contact
    • Careers
    • Sitemap
    Related Crain Publications
    • Sustainable Plastics
    • Rubber News
    • Tire Business
    • Urethanes Technology
    Legal
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Privacy Request
    Copyright © 1996-2023. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    • News
      • Processor News
        • Injection Molding
        • Blow Molding
        • Film & Sheet
        • Pipe/Profile/Tubing
        • Rotomolding
        • Thermoforming
        • Recycling
      • Suppliers
        • Machinery
        • Materials
        • Molds/Tooling
        • Product news
        • Design
      • More News
        • K Show
        • Mergers & Acquisitions
        • Sustainability
        • Public Policy
        • Material Insights Videos
        • Numbers that Matter
      • Digital Edition
      • End Markets
        • Automotive
        • Packaging
        • Medical
        • Consumer Products
        • Construction
      • Special Reports
        • Processor of the Year
        • Best Places to Work
        • Women Breaking the Mold
        • Rising Stars
        • Diversity
        • Most Interesting Social Media Accounts in Plastics
      • Newsletters
      • Resin pricing news
      • Videos
    • Opinion
      • The Plastics Blog
      • Kickstart
      • One Good Resin
      • Pellets and Politics
      • All Things Data
      • Viewpoint
      • From Pillar to Post
      • Perspective
      • Mailbag
      • Fake Plastic Trees
    • Shop Floor
      • Blending
      • Compounding
      • Drying
      • Injection Molding
      • Purging
      • Robotics
      • Size Reduction
      • Structural Foam
      • Tooling
      • Training
    • Events
      • K Show Livestream
      • Plastics News Events
        • Plastics News Executive Forum
        • Injection Molding & Design Expo
        • Plastics News Caps & Closures
        • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum
        • Plastics in Automotive
      • Industry Events
      • Injection Molding & Design Expo
      • Livestreams/Webinars
        • PN Live: Mergers and Acquisitions
      • Editorial Livestreams
        • Polymer Points Live
        • Numbers that Matter Live
        • Plastics in Politics Live
        • Sustainable Plastics Live
      • Ask the Expert
      • Plastics News Events Library
        • Plastics Caps & Closures Library
        • Plastics in Healthcare Library
        • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum Library
      • Processor of the Year submissions
    • Rankings & Data
      • Injection Molders
      • Blow Molders
      • Film Sheet
      • Thermoformers
      • Pipe Profile Tubing
      • Rotomolders
      • Mold/Toolmakers
      • LSR Processors
      • Recyclers
      • Compounders - List
      • Association - List
      • Plastic Lumber - List
      • All
    • Directory
    • Resin Prices
      • Commodity TPs
        • Historic Commodity Thermoplastics
      • High Temp TPs
        • Historic High Temp Thermoplastics
      • ETPs
        • Historic Engineering Thermoplastics
      • Thermosets
        • Historic Thermosets
      • Recycled Plastics
        • Historic Recycled Plastics
    • Custom
      • Sponsored Content
      • LS Mtron Sponsored Content
      • Conair Sponsored Content
      • KraussMaffei Sponsored Content
      • ENGEL Sponsored Content
      • White Papers
      • Classifieds
        • Place an Ad
        • Sign up for Early Classified