Part of Eaton’s Industrial Sector, the Vehicle Group produces a wide array of parts intended to improve the overall efficiency, performance and power of everything from passenger cars to commercial vehicles.
Like many other automotive suppliers, Eaton needs to minimize the downtime on their manufacturing lines in order to keep up with the rapid iteration in vehicle design and the massive, world-wide demand for parts.
In addition to tooling and fixturing for mass production, Eaton also produces one-off, custom solutions for customers around the globe.
For Eaton, the question was twofold: How can they quickly re-tool manufacturing lines to reduce downtime, and how can they develop and prototype custom parts for unique transportation challenges? To find answers, Eaton engineers turned to Desktop Metal and the Studio System™.
From Tooling to Replacement Parts
The Studio System™’s impact at Eaton was immediate.
With the ability to quickly print a wide variety of tooling and fixtures – from a complex set of pneumatic jaws used in a gear chamfering process to relatively simple press tools – engineers were able to cut the lead time for tooling by more than 60 percent, from three to four weeks to just five to 10 days.
Click https://www.desktopmetal.com/uploads/ebook_CST_Eaton_201109_Eaton-Edit.pdf for details.
