DETROIT—Rivian Automotive, Ford Motor and General Motors are deploying 3D printing across their operations to build prototypes, factory tools and low-volume production parts, reshaping their cost structure and time-to-market economics.
Rivian has invested more than $5 million in additive manufacturing equipment, with annual material costs around $1.7 million. Jared Beck, who heads Rivian's additive manufacturing, said the machines typically pay for themselves within a year. "The savings are well in the millions," Beck said.
The economics are straightforward: eliminating traditional supplier tooling—which can cost tens of thousands of dollars per mold and take months to build—with on-demand printing has compressed design iteration from weeks to days or hours. Beck emphasized that Rivian "has no choice but to scale up" the technology across the company. "The primary benefit is speed," he said. "We want every engineer to make a part and get it in their hands as soon as possible."
Rivian has installed a dedicated bay of machines at its Normal, Illinois plant and recently added equipment capable of printing flexible silicone parts. The company uses 3D printing for electric-motor fluid-testing models, screw guides for tooling, stamping press inserts and trim pieces for early vehicle builds.
Additive manufacturing builds objects layer by layer from digital designs using plastics, composites, ceramics and metals. Equipment costs range from hundreds of dollars for hobbyist devices to hundreds of thousands for industrial systems. Manufacturers can produce single prototypes or batch smaller parts using powders and resins.
Ford operates additive manufacturing departments across multiple facilities and has deployed a vending machine system for 3D-printed parts supporting F-150 production. General Motors has pursued similar initiatives for years, integrating the technology into large assembly plants. The convergence signals a shift in supply-chain economics: automakers are trading capital-intensive, long-lead supplier molds for flexible in-house printing that cuts both cash outlays and production cycles.
