3D Printing on Demand for Sustainable Spare Parts Management

EvoBus GmbH | Success Story

Lower logistics and warehousing costs
Significantly reduced production and lead times
Avoid overproduction and tooling costs

EvoBus GmbH, a subsidiary of the Daimler Group, is one of the leading manufacturers in the global omnibus segment. In order to continue expanding its pioneering role in times of increasing competitive pressure, EvoBus is pursuing two strategic aims: sustainably increase its profitability and enhance its capacity to innovate. In particular, EvoBus needs to find an answer to the growing challenges in the field of Customer Services & Parts (CSP). Daimler Buses sees additive manufacturing as a key tool in reaching these targets.

"The close cooperation between Daimler Buses and Additive Minds enables us to fully exploit the potential offered by additive manufacturing in the CSP field by defining key steps to defend our pioneering position on the bus market and expand this position in the long term."

Ralf Anderhofstadt | Project Manager CSP 3D Printing

3D Printing on Demand: Establishing a Sustainable Spare Parts Management System

To implement additive manufacturing into their CSP business model, EvoBus chose to rely on the expertise of Additive Minds, the largest team of AM experts in the world.

One of the early workshops focused on a systematic approach to selecting the components suitable for additive manufacturing. By applying a “part screening and selection” methodology developed by Additive Minds and used in more than 50 customer projects across numerous industries, EvoBus identified a total of 2 600 such parts. Of these, 35 metal and polymer components were selected for an initial implementation phase.

The next objective of the project is to start making additively manufactured components directly at the end customer. Although a centralized production scenario at the Daimler plant is envisaged for the time being, plans to position the printer directly at BusWorld Homes and outside organizations are being considered for the medium term.