Automakers like Rivian and Ford are ‘democratizing 3D printing’ to reduce costs and increase speed

watch now

DETROIT — Automakers including Ford Motor and Rivian Automotive are leaning into a new type of manufacturing line: 3D printing.

Manufacturers say it's helping them reduce costs and increase speed. The technology has been around for decades, but it's becoming more commoditized in the automotive industry, with 3D printers used to create everything from vehicle parts and accessories to tools for assembly plants and testing units for research and development labs.

"At this point, we don't have a choice but to scale up and begin using it through all factions of Rivian," Jared Beck, head of Rivian's additive manufacturing, told CNBC during a tour of the automaker's expansive 3D-printing operations in suburban Detroit. "We're going to be democratizing 3D printing for the entire company."

The benefits of 3D printing

Also known as additive manufacturing, 3D printing can create three-dimensional objects from digital designs by dispensing material layer by layer, much like a traditional printer does with ink on paper. Instead of ink, the machines use a wide variety of materials such as plastics, composites, ceramics and even metals.

The progression of the new steering wheel for Rivian's new R2 SUV from 3D print to finished design for production at its facility in Plymouth, Michigan.

Michael Wayland / CNBC

Printers can range from hundreds of dollars for hobby-like devices to hundreds of thousands of dollars for specialty equipment, depending on how big the product being produced is and the material it needs. They can produce individual pieces or hundreds of smaller parts in a batch using powders and resins.

Rivian said it has spent more than $5 million on 3D-printing machines, with the cost of materials for the operations growing to about $1.7 million annually.

Beck said despite the costs, the machines typically pay for themselves within a year. He said the technology helps lower supplier tooling costs, streamline logistics expenses and cut production times for parts from weeks to days, if not hours.

"It's well in the millions [for savings], but the main thing is speed for Rivian," Beck said.

The all-electric vehicle company's latest expansion of 3D printing includes adding new machines that can build flexible silicone parts as well as installing a bay of machines at its plant in Normal, Illinois, for employees to print parts on demand.

A 3D-printed version of Rivian's cartoon Yeti mascot named Gary stands inside an additive manufacturing area at Rivian's facility in Plymouth, Michigan.

Michael Wayland / CNBC

"3D prints should be readily available for every engineer so that they can make a part and get it in their hands as soon as possible," Beck said.

Rivian has also used the technology for electric-motor models for fluid testing, creating screw guides for tooling and stamping press inserts and some production parts, including trim pieces to fill gaps in some early builds.

GM, Ford

There's a similar push underway at larger, more-established automakers like Ford and its crosstown rival General Motors, which have used 3D printing for many years, including in their massive assembly plants.

Instead of having a bay of 3D-printing machines like at Rivian, Ford has departments for additive manufacturing at many of its plants to produce and distribute needed parts. That includes a new vending machine for 3D-printed parts for production of F-150 pickup trucks near its Dearborn, Michigan, headquarters.

Gregory Foresi, a Ford mechanical engineer, holds up a device he 3D printed to reinstall vehicle badges onto the automaker's F-150 pickup trucks inside the River Rouge factory in Dearborn, Michigan.

Michael Wayland / CNBC

"By putting the vending machine up, all the team leaders have access," said Gregory Foresi, a Ford mechanical engineer who ran Ford's 3D-printing lab at the plant from 2024 until last month. "We're able to keep that thing stocked rather than have a bunch of parts laying around in the lab. So that's been pretty huge."

Foresi used roughly two dozen machines to print off thousands of tools, some of which have been designed by employees, such as torque bit sockets, hood jackers and hand tools for smoothing adhesive.

Employees can use an app to request that specific auto parts or tools be printed. Ford's 3D-printing teams help develop them or determine what to produce next, as the machining time to build different parts can range from hours to days, if not weeks.

Foresi said creating the tools with 3D printing has allowed the automaker to uniquely design them when needed, get them faster and, in many cases, receive them at a lower cost.

Ford also has used 3D-printed parts to help keep production running. For example, Foresi said a large machining wheel was needed to maintain assembly line production and the company was able to 3D print the part until a permanent replacement from a supplier was available.

A table full of 3D-printed parts and tools inside the 3D-printing lab at Ford's River Rouge factory in Dearborn, Michigan.

Michael Wayland / CNBC

"They didn't perform as well, and it's not really a replacement for the ones that we were purchasing, but they kept the plant running," Foresi said.

Ford said it expects to have 3D labs deployed at more than 23 plants by the end of this year. Its current 3D-printing program has more than 200 machines, and there are additional printers outside the official program, the company said.

GM has used 3D-printed parts for some of its low-volume products in addition to research and development and inside plants, including recently expanding its use of industrial Stratasys printers that can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars based on use case, training and certification.

The Detroit automaker uses 135 components that are 3D-printed for its bespoke Cadillac Celestiq as well as other components for its performance Cadillac Blackwing sedans, including a unique medallion on the manual shifter knob.

Fadi Abro, senior global director of automotive and mobility at 3D-printing company Stratasys, said GM has been a great example of how companies can "standardize and then scale" 3D printing.

"The material properties improved so significantly that the use cases improved," he said, noting the company works with virtually every major automaker. "From a product perspective, we have to get the technology to become faster and more accessible, in an economic sense."

A GM metal model maker wipes dust from a 3D printer in between part builds at one of the Detroit automaker's facilities.

Courtesy GM