3D Printing Cuts Costs and Lead Times for Korean Car Parts Manufacturer

The automotive industry is an early adopter of 3D printing technology, initially benefitting from Rapid Prototyping to finalize new car concepts. SL Corporation is an automotive parts manufacturer based in Korea, who was able to cut their lead-times significantly and reduce costs by incorporating 3D Printing into their production.

SL Corporation is renowned worldwide for its high-quality automotive parts. Although they have been part of the industry since 1954, their innovative spirit has led them to embrace new technologies such as 3D Printing, which now plays a role in their design department, prototyping and tooling. The technology enables them to produce parts which are difficult to manufacture with traditional methods, and allows for an almost unlimited freedom of design. Additionally, 3D Printing allows SL Corporation to reduce their lead times by 10%. Another way that 3D printing technology allows SL Corporation to reduce costs is by saving material. They create lightweight parts that retain the same structural integrity as solid parts with Materialise Magics, which also ensures that the digital design of the parts are error-free and ready to go to the 3D printer! The cutting function also enables SL Corporation to cut up large pieces into manageable print sizes, which can be assembled afterwards.

“Materialise Magics is the ideal software to prepare jigs and fixtures for our automotive models for 3D Printing,” says Seong Jun Yu, Assistant Manager at the SL Corporation Production Engineering Center.

“The advanced automatic fixing tool handles the most challenging errors. The hollowing function and generation of structures is also extremely useful. The weight reduction of 40% of our jig loaders really has a big impact.”

Discover how 3D Printing is making a difference in the automotive sector, or read more about how the Materialise Magics 3D Print Suite can optimize your files for the 3D printer. For more details about our project with SL Corporation, read our case study.