DB 3D Printing Award given to suppliers for the first time

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Article: DB 3D Printing Award given to suppliers for the first time

A digital manufacturing process can make a decisive contribution to higher availability, more quality and punctuality: 3D printing. For example, by 2030, ten per cent of all DB Fahrzeuginstandhaltung parts in stock are to be made printable. Suppliers are a fundamental part of this goal.

The availability of vehicles and equipment at any time is elementary in rail transport. In times of supply bottlenecks and shortages of raw materials, it is a great challenge to have the right spare parts in adequate quantities ready in time. With 3D printing, also known as additive manufacturing, as an additional, alternative procurement channel, these challenges can be met.

Unlocking the enormous technical, economic and environmental potential of additive manufacturing is a mandate for the entire industry: 3D printing enables more local production, consumes fewer resources than conventional manufacturing processes and is therefore particularly sustainable. This step is beneficial for the entire industry because a digital warehouse saves costs for (unnecessary) stockpiling and reduces tied-up capital. There is no longer any storage of physical parts, but 3D blueprints are securely provided in the cloud and can be retrieved there when needed.

The railway system receives active support

The DB 3D Printing Award, newly initiated in 2023, honours DB suppliers who support the railway system with 3D printing solutions. Seven suppliers were nominated: Knorr Bremse, Photon, SIEMENS, SKF, Stadler, Voith, Wabtec. At the beginning of September, SIEMENS was presented with the award by Dr Daniela Gerd tom Markotten, DB Board Member for Digitalisation & Technology at Deutsche Bahn, at the Railway Forum in Berlin:

  • The "SIEMENS Additive Team" has been pushing the printing of parts for years with great commitment.
  • With a worldwide and certified network of industrial printing capacities for various materials, it is possible to react "on-demand" to part requirements.
  • SIEMENS is always actively involved in committees and networks to promote the joint creation of industry-wide standards for additive manufacturing. For example, extensive stress testing of a 3D-printed hanging tab was conducted until it was sufficiently tested and approved for operation.
  • SIEMENS pioneered an open online platform for printed spare parts called "Easy Sparovation" to keep original parts available or even improve them for the entire rail transport sector. Other suppliers can also connect their portfolios there.

The 3D printing competition as a tool for identifying new parts

To date, DB's internal 3D printing competition has been an important vehicle for identifying new printable (replacement) parts, through which employees in the factories, on the track bed or train attendants can report their needs. Thanks in part to their commitment, savings in the tens of millions have already been achieved with 100,000 components in well over 500 different applications. The 2023 award winners were also announced in September. Out of 120 submissions, proposals such as housings for USB sockets on folding seats in passenger transport vehicles, a drilling template for balise installation in infrastructure and printable decorative elements on historic station buildings were among the prizewinners.