Alstom passes 150,000 parts milestone using Additive Manufacturing
December 18, 2023
The mobility company Alstom, based in Mannheim, Germany, has announced that it has achieved the milestone of producing 150,000 additively manufactured parts. Alstom’s production includes ceramics, and metals such as aluminium, stainless steel, high-performance steel, and titanium, as well as polymers.
Aurelian Fussel, Head of the company’s Additive Manufacturing Program, shared, “Over the last two years, we have produced – annually – about 40,000 parts, including machine tools and jigs, spare parts, missing parts, and new designs.”
Fussel added, “The range of parts is impressive: for example, we’ve just produced a headlamp case for a new high-speed train in France, a jig to ease screwing holes in car body shells in Germany, a part in a soft material for an air conditioning evacuation tube for a metro project in Spain, and a steel cover for a bogie in the Nordics.”
“We have 3D printing hubs in Saint Bruno, Canada; Barcelona, Spain; Sesto San Giovanni, Italy; Bangalore, India; Valenciennes and Tarbes in France; Hennigsdorf and Salzgitter in Germany; Istanbul, Türkiye; and Singapore. We have 150 machines now. In addition, we have, as a minimum, one supplier per region. If we are asked to print a few parts, we can do that in-house, but for thousands of parts, we subcontract to one of our qualified suppliers. In the next few months, extra-large prints using robots will be possible – stay tuned,” Fussel concluded.
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