Join industry leaders by investing in additive
Drive efficient process, from Tier 3 suppliers to OEMs
Improve manufacturing agility at every stage of the vehicle life-cycle with an agile platform for digital parts fabrication. The value of 3D printing in automotive is remarkably scalable — from single part suppliers to industry-leading OEMs, all can directly benefit from implementing Markforged 3D printers. Only Markforged can provide quality, durable materials of all types on a plug-and-play manufacturing platform.
Iterate Better
Empower engineers to make products that better meet customer requirements, with more iterations to refine concepts and tooling ahead of production. Integrate higher performing, more complex designs that you could not reasonably take before and continually innovate to ensure that you stay ahead of competitors.
Produce Better
Achieve a new high-water mark for factory uptime and labor/scrap reduction by getting production-critical parts on the line when they are needed. Build high performance tooling for lower cost, slashing spend while boosting throughput. Eliminate downtime risks and retooling issues by replacing “cardboard engineering” with robust 3D printed parts.
Service Better
Turn service into a competitive advantage by providing customers with unparalleled expediency and quality with distributed manufacturing. Utilize point-of-need fabrication to unlock drastically improved service experiences, faster repairs, and higher NPS.
Digital Forge for automotive
British-based Dunlop Systems & Components uses 3D printed Onyx parts for tooling throughout their enterprise — saving tens of thousands of pounds every year. Learn how Dunlop and over 100 other real-world manufacturers use the Markforged platform to solve real-world problems.
“There are parts we would not have even thought about doing and there are parts that we would not have been able to afford to do. Now we never say 'no, we can't do it,' we say 'yes we can. We’ll print it.'"– Mark Statham, Production and Engineering Manager at Dunlop Systems and Components
Why invest in Markforged 3D printers?
- Print composites, continuous fibers, and metals on a single platform
- Continuous fiber reinforced parts deliver near-metal strength with the ease of plastic 3D printing
- Reliable systems always run when you need them to
- Scalable platform enables you to both generate day-one value and build a company-wide distributed manufacturing infrastructure
High-value automotive applications
- Durable, complex assembly jigs
- Lightweight grippers/ end-of-arm-tooling
- High-strength brackets and sensor mounts
- Functional prototypes
- Welding hardware: fixtures, shanks, splatter guards
- Ergonomic/fit prototypes
- Brazing fixtures
Featured content
Customer Success Stories
Garry Rogers Motorsport
Garry Rogers Motorsport is Australia's oldest race car team, having secured several wins in the Bathurst 1000 and Dunlop Super2 Series. Read how they turned to 3D printing to increase speed and improve the performance of their race cars.
Profile Gauge
Dayco printed this profile gauge for aligning complex under-the-hood assemblies for automotive applications.
Learn
Blog
How 3D Printing Drives Change in the Automotive Industry
Jump into the fast lane and learn how the automotive industry is utilizing 3D printing
Automotive 3D Printing FAQ
Many leading manufacturers in the automotive industry use Markforged 3D printers, including Bentley, Toyota, Rolls Royce, Harley Davidson, and Porsche.
3D printing allows manufacturers in the automotive industry to fabricate hard-to-procure legacy parts on demand, accelerate prototyping cycles to get to market faster, quickly build custom tooling for a low price, and preserve warehouse space by storing spare parts as digital inventory in the cloud. Additionally, 3D printed production parts can optimize performance with lighter weights where needed.
The team at Garry Rogers Motorsport 3D prints composite jigs, molds, fixtures, and a wide variety of race car end-use parts such as covers for door locks, gearbox housings, steering wheel handles, and camera mounts for the drivers.
Larsen Motorsports 3D prints custom steering wheels for their race car drivers made out of carbon fiber-reinforced composites.
Dayco prints a profile gauge for aligning complex under-the-hood assemblies.
RPG Industries, a full-service manufacturer working with automotive clients, uses Markforged printers to make carburetor caps in both 17-4 PH Stainless Steel and Onyx material.
Dunlop Systems and Components uses their Markforged desktop printer to print custom tooling for a beta electric vehicle.
Busbar prototypes can be fabricated on the Metal X system with pure Copper.
The U.S. Army prints legacy parts for training vehicles at the point of need, a remote location, to ensure vehicle uptime isn’t compromised by supply chain challenges.
3D printing allows automotive industry manufacturers to be more competitive and bring refined products to market faster with more effective prototyping.
Bringing additive manufacturing in-house also allows automotive suppliers to streamline many manufacturing processes. Requisite tooling, molds, and fixtures do not need to be manufactured in order to economically produce low volumes of parts.
The option to print production-grade parts with modern industrial 3D printers, such as hard-to-procure legacy parts, allows manufacturers to circumvent supply chain delays that can stall progress on projects.
In 2014, Volkswagen became one of the first adopters of industrial automotive 3D printing by using 3D printers to make prototypes in its Portugal plant. Since then, 3D printing use in the industry has grown beyond prototyping. In the automotive industry, today’s additive manufacturing technologies now see widespread use making industrial tooling, end-use parts, and even production parts.
3D printing can fix automotive supply chains by providing quick, production-grade fabrication at the direct point of need. The option to quickly 3D print a wide variety of parts is an easy solution for widespread supply chain disruptions that continue to make it challenging for manufacturers to get critical parts when they’re needed.
Onyx reinforced with continuous fibers are used for aluminum-strength tooling, fixtures, and end-use parts due to its strength and heat resistance. The high quality surface finish of Onyx can also be used for aesthetic applications like interior components. TPU, a rubber-like thermoplastic, is often used for automotive applications like rocker panels, cladding, body side trim, and ditch covers.
3D printed metal parts are often used to prototype production parts that must be made out of industrial metals like stainless steel or tool steels. 3D printed metal end-use parts are also used to lightweight components through closed infill structures. Pure Copper for electrical applications such as busbars in the growing EV market.
Materials for applications that demand very high temperature resistance include ULTEM 9085™ Filament on the FX20 and Inconel on the Metal X system.
Markforged printers reliably print continuous-fiber reinforced, end-use parts for the automotive industry, whether they’re replacement parts, custom tooling, or manufactured components. But the biggest strength Markforged brings to the automotive industry is the Digital Forge—a combination of software, printers, and materials that work seamlessly together to integrate with your existing manufacturing ecosystem.
Markforged printers have a reputation for reliability. They can be run almost constantly, result in very few print failures, and have a low need for maintenance.
Proprietary continuous fiber reinforcement (CFR) lets auto manufacturers easily print metal-strength parts and custom tooling, eliminating the need for machined aluminum
The automotive 3D printing market is expected to reach 7.9 Billion by 2027. Growth is spurred by the need for faster development times and resilient supply chains as global markets surge with demand.
Additionally, the growth in electric vehicle popularity has led to demand for more complex parts. 3D printing is uniquely designed to outpace traditional manufacturing when it comes to small complex part production, thus continuing to drive growth in the automotive 3D printing industry.