Termignoni, an Italian manufacturer of motorcycle exhaust systems, has dramatically shortened time to market for its products while lowering production costs with Stratasys’ F770 large format FDM 3D printer. Thanks to the implementation of additive technology, the time needed to develop new solutions has been reduced from weeks to days. At the same time, Termignoni moved from outsourcing the production of prototype parts to in-house production, which reduced costs by 50% and saved the company time waiting for the shipment of finished parts.
Termignoni supports motorcycle racing around the world in various series, and also supplies aftermarket systems for consumer-facing brands such as Ducati, KTM, Yamaha and Honda, excelling in terms of performance, weight reduction and acoustics. Time to market for new products is extremely important in the aftermarket sector – when a new motorcycle comes out, companies have limited options to release parts to the aftermarket to maximize sales.
The large build volume of the Stratasys F770 3D printer means fewer parts need to be glued together, reducing the risk of inaccuracies, errors and inefficiencies inherent in this methodology. At the same time, the working chamber of the device with dimensions of 1000 x 610 x 610 mm allows you to print the entire component as a single element. Termignoni achieved 50% cost savings based on the old outsourcing model with its own 3D printer.
Termignoni uses ASA material, which provides more stability and better surface appearance than some other materials. The team uses the filament together with dissolvable support materials that enable the design of complex internal structures and minimal post-processing requirements.
The company has now created a whole work ecosystem based on a 3D printer. “We have acquired a whole range of equipment that allows us to produce in-house parts that we previously purchased from outside,” says Ernesto Marinelli, General Manager and Product and Technology Director at Termignoni. “By combining the F770 with metal laser cutters and CNC machines, parts such as assembly jigs and fixtures for manufacturing and measuring processes can now be finished internally.”
Source: Stratasys press materials