How Rivian, Ford and GM are using 3D printing to reduce costs

DETROIT — Automakers, including Ford engine And Rivian Automobile are turning to a new type of manufacturing line: 3D printing.

Manufacturers claim this helps them reduce costs and increase speed. The technology has been around for decades, but it’s becoming increasingly commonplace in the automotive industry, with 3D printers used to create everything from vehicle parts and accessories to tools for assembly plants and test units for research and development labs.

“At this point, we have no choice but to expand it and start using it across all factions of Rivian,” Jared Beck, Rivian’s head of additive manufacturing, told CNBC during a tour of the automaker’s vast 3D printing operations in suburban Detroit. “We will democratize 3D printing for the entire enterprise.”

Also known as additive manufacturing, 3D printing can create three-dimensional objects from digital designs by distributing 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.

Printers can range from hundreds of dollars for hobby devices to hundreds of thousands of dollars for specialized equipment, depending on the size of the product being produced and the material it requires. They can produce individual parts or hundreds of smaller parts in batches using powders and resins.

Rivian said it spent more than $5 million on 3D printing machines, with the cost of materials for operations increasing to about $1.7 million per year.

Beck said that despite the costs, the machines typically pay for themselves within a year. He said the technology helps reduce suppliers’ tooling costs, streamline logistics expenses and reduce part production times from weeks to days or even hours.

“It’s in the millions (for savings), but the main thing is speed for Rivian,” Beck said.

The all-electric vehicle company’s latest 3D printing expansion includes the addition of new machines capable of making flexible silicone parts, as well as the installation of a fleet of machines at its Normal, Illinois, factory so employees can print parts on demand.

“3D prints need to be easily accessible to all engineers so they can make a part and get it in their hands as quickly as possible,” Beck said.

Rivian has also used this technology for electric motor designs to test fluids, creating screw guides for stamping press tooling and inserts and some production parts, including trim parts to fill gaps in some early builds.

A similar move is underway at larger, more established automakers like Ford and its crosstown rival. General engineswho have been using 3D printing for many years, including in their huge assembly plants.

Instead of having a fleet of 3D printing machines like Rivian, Ford has additive manufacturing departments in several of its factories to produce and distribute the necessary parts. This includes a new vending machine for 3D printed parts for F-150 pickup production near its Dearborn, Michigan, headquarters.

“By installing the vending machine, all the crew leaders have access to it,” said Gregory Foresi, a Ford mechanical engineer who led Ford’s 3D printing lab at the plant from 2024 until last month. “We’re able to keep this thing in stock rather than having a bunch of parts lying around the lab. So it’s pretty huge.”

Foresi used about two dozen machines to print thousands of tools, some of which were designed by employees, such as torque sockets, hood jacks and hand tools for smoothing the adhesive.

Employees can use an app to request specific auto parts or tools to 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 vary from a few hours to several days or even weeks.

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

“They haven’t performed as well and aren’t really a replacement for the ones we were purchasing, but they have kept the plant running,” Foresi said.

Ford said it plans to deploy 3D labs in more than 23 factories 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 factories, including recently expanding its use of Stratasys industrial printers that can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars depending on the use case, training and certification.

The Detroit automaker is using 135 3D-printed components for its custom Cadillac Celestiq, as well as other components for its Cadillac Blackwing performance sedans, including a unique medallion on the manual shift knob.

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

“The material properties have improved so significantly that the use cases have improved,” he said, noting that the company works with virtually every major automaker. “From a product perspective, we need to make the technology faster and more accessible, from an economic perspective.”