German transport company Siemens Mobility Services has announced it will be acquiring two additional StratasysFortus 450mc 3D printers to expand part production for the Russian rail industry, the Associated Press reports.
To date, the transport company has successfully adopted Stratasys’ technology for the production of rail parts for Germany and the UK, and the new 3D printers will enable it to expand its support of rail maintenance operations in Russia.
The increased investment in Stratasys is largely the result of a recent business deal for Siemens Mobility, through which it will build 13 high-speed Velaro trains for Russian state-run monopoly Russian Railways. The agreement also stipulates that Siemens Mobility will maintain and service the trains for the next 30 years. The 13 Velaro trains will supplement RZD’s existing fleet of 16 Sapsan trains.
To meet the needs of its Russian customer, Siemens Mobility has installed two Fortus 450mc 3D printers in St. Petersburg and Moscow, which will allow its Russian unit to carry out maintenance operations for the new trains. Having AM capabilities on the ground will also enable the company to transform their current operations, producing replacement rail parts on-demand.
“These availability figures would be physically impossible to achieve through external part sourcing and traditional manufacturing techniques alone, but Stratasys’ FDM 3D printers gives us the capability to cost-effectively produce the parts in-house, partially eliminating the need for warehousing or tools for a selected range of items,” said Alexey Fedoseev, Head of Customer Services, Siemens Mobility Russia. “We have already seen the success of the Siemens Mobility ‘Easy Sparovation Part’ business in Germany, where this technology has provided us time-per-part savings of up to 95% compared to traditional manufacturing methods.”
