MakerBot is a leading 3D printer provider. Aftermarket Business World spoke with Daniel Breyre, the company's product and business insight manager for hardware, about potential 3D printing applications in the automotive aftermarket.
What are some key applications for 3D printing in the automotive aftermarket?
A third area that is just starting to take hold is in customization. There is an interest in things that are personalized. You can get the information and scale it to the ergonomics of a specific individual, change the way it forms and fits. You can do that with high-end modern vehicles or older vehicles where the original data and information have been lost. You can design and print something for a restoration.
What are the barriers to wider adoption?
Automotive is a highly regulated market, which presents a high barrier to entry. You can't just put anything you want on a vehicle. Things are a little more cavalier in the aftermarket, but the OEMs don't want to move away from technology and materials they are familiar with.
Do you see companies producing on-demand replacement parts this way?
That's the benefit of 3D printing, that ability to not have hard assets. You don't have to create a tool or a mold. You don't have inventory. If you don't want to hold all of that inventory for a particular car, you release the models. You just transfer data.
So how do companies using that model generate revenue?
That's something we talk about quite a bit. Companies want to hold on to their designs. But the ancillary benefit is that by releasing that to other people, you don't have to keep inventory. You can release that from the books. There's a hesitation to be the first company to open up. We're seeing more movement on the customization side. Automotive is slow to move that way, but we see consumer products moving faster in that direction.
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