Almost a year ago managers and engineers from the Bosch manufacturing site, in Mondeville, France, began utilising 3D printing technology to streamline their operations.
Among the many solutions available on the market, Bosch opted for the Zortrax M200 3D printers, citing it as the best value for their money, due to its high precision, reliability at work, ease and convenience of use.
The time and effects of the implementation positively verified the decision to use 3D printing in the factory and also the choice of the supplier. Representatives of Bosch emphasize that, in the past several months, Zortrax M200 3D printers enabled not only to improve many technical production processes, but also to save thousands of euros.
Story in brief:
• Bosch plant in Mondeville saved at least €80,000 over the past several months, thanks to the usage of Zortrax M200 3D printers.
• Zortrax M200 3D Printers accelerate the process of designing, prototyping and fabrication of specialized tools, which are then used by factory workers in the assembly of modules or small parts of electronic devices.
“We decided to implement the 3D printing technology, delivered by Zortrax, because we knew of the reputation and quality of the M200 3D printer. Looking back, I can definitely say that this decision has brought us huge savings in both time and money. We have saved more than €80,000 since July 2015,” said Frederic Boumaza, managing director of the Bosch production plant in Mondeville
Bosch engineers back Zortrax
From the engineer’s point of view, the 3D printing technology accelerated their work regarding the design and prototyping of specialized instrumentation used by the employees at the production hall. They pay special attention to the integration – including 3D printing devices, dedicated software, high-quality materials – and the reliability of the equipment delivered by Zortrax.
Production technologists improved the precision and quality of many time-consuming assembly processes, whichresulted in higher efficiency and an increase in the productivity of the whole plant. Zortrax 3D printers were used to manufacture spare parts for machines and equipment used at the production lines.
“Our production plants produce more than 15 million items a year. To ensure the continuity and quality of the production processes, our technical department has to maintain the impeccable condition of hundreds of devices,” said Frederic Boumaza. “Zortrax 3D printers allow us to manufacture many indispensable parts, almost immediately when needed.”
As emphasized by Bosch engineers, the production costs of replacements are much less than the price of their purchase from the supplier. For example, a set of structurally simple, plastic caps on the head of a robot, which is laying electronic components on a circuit board can cost €450, while printing them takes just a few hours and costs only about €1.
“Designing our first Zortrax M200 3D printer we were guided by the philosophy of creating an integrated, reliable and easy-to-use environment for 3D printing. These are the features desired by professional users, who want to fully focus on the process of realizing their visions and expect to keep interaction with the device to a minimum,” said Rafał Tomasiak, CEO of Zortrax.
“The great market success of the M200 and its very good reception by professionals and industry representatives (including Bosch), confirms the validity of the adopted strategy and the direction of development.”
The Zortrax 3D printers have been working in Mondeville for many months in almost uninterrupted cycles. Due to the compact, robust design of the M200, the printers in France don’t have any maintenance or adjustments.