MT Magazine March/April 2022

TECHNOLOGY ISSUE

FEATURE STORY

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walk into a division somewhere, and there will be a half-dozen additive machines running that I didn’t even know about.” Magna is no stranger to additive manufacturing technologies. Indeed, Deaville says that some 20 years ago, the company built a system that was used for in-house tool repair. What’s more, he adds, “I think we had the first EOS machine in North America, 20-odd years ago.” Three Things One could make the case that there are three areas where additive technologies are used: 1. Prototyping (the original application, which gave rise to the term “rapid prototyping”) 2. Tooling development 3. Serial production According to Deaville, at Magna, prototyping is where the use of systems began. “It is still a huge use case,” he says. “We have lots of machines doing engineering models and concept development all the time.” He believes this is an area where the technology will always play a role. Tooling is something that they use additive for, and there is a variety of processes being used to produce components. On this subject, Deaville notes, “It is probably a small percentage of our use of additive.” No, it isn’t the case because Magna doesn’t have an extensive range of tooling applications, but rather they “use the supply base.” In other words, he explains, suppliers generally keep up to date faster on some process areas than Magna can, so there is a tendency to use them. Still, he concedes that it is “really good to have some equipment in house so that you know you have the capability, and it provides the capacity for quick turnarounds.” This internal use of the technology has another important role, Deaville says. He thinks engineering design is absolutely important to have a handle on. The in-house equipment allows Magna personnel to keep up to speed on what additive allows in the way of design. Specialization Finally, serial production. “We are mostly in the high-volume world,” Deaville says. “So there is not so much applicability there.” Yet. While he thinks there will be growth in the production of end

parts in the auto industry, he believes that lower-volume variants is where additive has the best potential. He cites, for example, the MINI Yours Customized product initiative from a few years back, where customers of MINI vehicles could design special trim components, such as dashboard trim strips and exterior side scuttle covers, that BMW would then produce. Specialized offerings like this carry a higher premium, so as automotive is highly price sensitive, the applicability of additive is different than, say, in aerospace, where they produce limited numbers of exceedingly high-value items, like nozzles for rockets. Transitioning Capacity However, as the auto industry is undergoing a transformation, there is more potential. Not only is there the well-known shift to electrification, as well as increasing levels of driving automation, but also an influx of new manufacturers on the scene. On the subject of the new entrants, Deaville rhetorically asks, “How do you provide components and products to these new customers? How do you mitigate those risks, challenges, and costs? It is easy to build a part if you know that you’re going to need a million of them. But if you need 200 today, and you don’t know how many you’re going to need tomorrow, that’s a different situation.” As for electrification and automation, there are potential applications as well: Capital components that are designed, say, with integrated electronics that cannot be made another way could be where additive plays a bigger role. In fact, Deaville thinks that the big breakthrough for additive will come not from the equipment or materials side but from the end-product side, from “a product that really needs this process, this technology. If someone finds that one …” Then additive, even in automotive, will be a process just like milling and stamping. And then there will be what’s next – the ongoing technological dynamic.

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