The automotive industry proves that it is not difficult to find applications for 3D printing in vehicle production. Most often, additive technologies are presented as a way to reduce costs and reduce production time. One of the companies that proves that the implementation of 3D printing in production processes makes sense is BORN Motor, a Spanish company dealing with the renovation and personalization of motorcycles.
Specialists from BORN Motor give a second life to motorcycles, creating vehicle parts and components to order. In addition to modifications, the company also designs and creates limited series of elements, thanks to which motorcycle owners can give them a unique character.
Due to the nature of their work, the company puts special emphasis on low-volume or unit production. Parts are prepared according to customer requirements, and the ability to personalize them is an advantage of BORN Motor over other companies in the industry. Unfortunately, unit production is associated with higher costs and longer lead times, which is why the company began to look for alternatives to traditional manufacturing methods.
The solution that exceeded the expectations of BORN Motor was 3D printing technology. As it turned out, additive manufacturing saved them up to € 2,000 on each modified motorcycle model! What’s more, the implementation of the BCN3D Sigma printer gave designers greater freedom to create and improve components in even less time. Traditional production technologies such as laser cutting and CNC milling turned out to be time consuming, which was a big problem especially for short production runs.
BORN Motors uses 3D printers from design to production and testing. The device allows both faster production of subsequent iterations of prototype elements and allows overcoming the limitations that occur with other manufacturing technologies. In their daily work, specialists use 3D printing materials such as Nylon, PET-G or ABS.
3D printing also eliminated the need for manual production of components, which (according to the table below) cost several hundred times the price of a single 3D print. Below is a summary of the expenditure required to prepare the Honda CB25 dashboard according to various manufacturing methods:
| Handiwork | Conventional production methods | 3D printing | |
| Amount of elements | 1 | 2 | 6 |
| Costs | 1500 € / per part | 250 € / per part | 6 € / per part |
| Lead time | 24h / per part | 2-3 weeks | 6-8 h / per part |
Source: www.bcn3d.com