SOLIZE and HP enable 3D production of replacement NISMO heritage parts
Solize and HP are partnering to start 3D Printing replacement parts for Nissan sports cars of the past, specifically for plastic discontinued replacement parts that are hard to source!
They're using the multijet fusion systems, and PA11 -- for everyone out there asking if you can use Nylon for car parts, yes, and we have a variety of nylons, high-temp nylons, carbon fiber nylons, and even GLASS filled nylons on our site at visionminer.com/materials -- yes, yes, you can!
3D printed parts include plastic harness protectors for R32 Nissan Skyline GT-R, and frankly, this is a great choice, because the R32 is one of the most legendary cars out there -- I remember people trying to find parts back in the early 2000's, and even then, it was a challenge. The part is produced using HP "High Reusability" PA 11 which gives it the strong mechanical properties, and of course the design flexibility of Additive.
“We are seeing leaders of industry like Nissan recognize the massive cost implications of storage, molds and logistics for replacement parts,” said Jon Wayne, Head of Global Commercial Business for 3D Printing and Digital Manufacturing at HP. “Digital manufacturing is a viable, long-term solution for accelerating production, transforming supply chains and activating industries such as automotive.”
Set up in 2017, Nissan’s Heritage Parts program was designed to help owners of legacy NISMO sports cars, like the vintage R32 Skyline and Silvia, giving them access to maintenance support and parts which have been long hard to find. Like many other industries, Nissan has clearly found that storing old components and discontinued molds can be expensive and inefficient, so they began looking at inventory management, and specifically digital inventory.
This is actually a huge thing -- any company that makes metal products will often have dies and molds used in production. If this company is an old one, like, say, Kirby vacuums, having over 100 years of history -- imagine the warehouse containing all the molds for each years model -- now, scale that up to a CAR company, and well, we're looking at a lot of warehouse space to store molds which, frankly, won't get used very much.
Initially, SOLIZE worked with Nissan to identify which parts would benefit most 3D printing, and then they partnered with HP to optimize their part designs for use in the MJF systems. Once printed, they saw the high quality nylon parts, and they also saw the ROI -- compared to their traditional methods
In one test case, the engineers managed to 3D print a plastic harness protector for the R32 Nissan Skyline GT-R, in PA 11 powder. The part effectively showed the flexibility that can be had by switching to a digital inventory , as well as the sustainability benefits of producing parts on-demand, rather than producing inventory for future client orders.
Digital inventories allow manufacturers to make spare parts on-demand, opening the doors to significant reductions in cost and increases in efficiency.
As a result, we're seeing a LOT of companies switching over to ‘just-in-time’ production.
The future is now, y'all. RIGHT NOW. We personally work with a bunch of people doing custom automotive parts, so it's not just the big guys. Materials like Carbon Fiber Nylon 6 are incredible -- you don't have to wait for Nissan to print your part on the MJF systems, just pick up a machine today!
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At Vision Miner, we specialize in Functional 3D printing, especially high-performance plastics like PEEK, ULTEM, PPSU, PPS, CFPA, and more. If you're interested in using functional 3D printing and materials in your business, feel free to reach out, and we can help you make the right choice for your application.
Call 833-774-6863 or email contact@visionminer.com, and we're here to help!
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