Siemens Mobility RRX Rail Service Center puts Stratasys 3D printing at the heart of its servicing operation.
Siemens Mobility GmbH, part of Siemens AG, has opened its first digital rail maintenance centre, eliminating the need for inventory of selected spare parts.
The Siemens Mobility RRX Rail Service Center located in Dortmund-Eving, Germany, houses a Stratasys Fortus 450mc Production 3D printer which is being used produce replacement parts and tooling on-demand. Siemens Mobility has reduced the manufacturing time of select parts by up to 95%.
The RRX Rail Service Center is expecting around a hundred trains to enter the depot every month. Michael Kuczmik, Head of Additive Manufacturing, Siemens Mobility GmbH, Customer Service says 3D printing will play an integral role in optimising “spare parts for longer life cycles, at reduced cost and in shorter timeframes than ever before.”
“Every train has to go through maintenance several times a year," comments Kuczmik. "As you can imagine, all our customers would like this process to be as quick as possible, but they still expect maximum levels of detail, safety and quality in the work we do. We also have to consider unplanned or last-minute jobs, and if you look at the different train models and companies we service, this requires a lot of customized solutions. This is where our Fortus 450mc fits in perfectly, providing us the ability to rapidly and cost-effectively produce one-off, customized production parts."
Previously, Siemens would rely on lengthy methods such as casting to manufacture final customised parts. For one-off parts, the team would often cast large volumes to make production runs more economical but this often resulted in batches of obsolete parts. With polymer 3D printing, Siemens says it’s now reducing typical 6 week production cycles to 13 hours.
“Within a week, we can iterate and optimize the design and then 3D print a final, customized production-grade part. This has enabled us to reduce the manufacturing time of each part by up to 95%, which has significantly sped up our ability to respond to customers,” says Tina Eufinger, Business Development Additive Manufacturing, Siemens Mobility Division.
Siemens is also leveraging 3D printing for complex tooling applications. In the case of an essential ‘connector’ tool which is used to maintain train bogies (the chassis or framework that carries the wheelset), the team is using industrial-grade ULTEM 9085 thermoplastic to turnaround one-off tools customised to each bogie in a matter of hours.
Kuczmik concludes: “The ability to 3D print customised tools and spare parts whenever we need them, with no minimum quantity, has transformed our supply chain. We have reduced our dependency on outsourcing tools via suppliers and reduced cost per part, while also opening up more revenue streams by being able to service more low-volume jobs cost-effectively and efficiently."
