Value creation through insourcing – Additive Manufacturing as efficient in-house production technology

Abstract

AVL List GmbH (AVL) is the world’s largest independent company for development, simulation and testing in the automotive industry, and in other sectors. The business unit Instrumentation and Test Systems (ITS) is focusing on the development, realization and manufacturing of high-precision measurement, development and test solutions for automotive components and systems. While the focus of in-house production at ITS is on assembly processes, manufacturing of the required components is mainly outsourced to external suppliers.With the foundation of the AVL Additive Manufacturing (AM) Initiative in 2017, manufacturing was partially in-sourced again. Since then, several activities have been conducted to successfully integrate AM as enabling technology. This paper presents how AM was methodically implemented and how AM contributes to the ITS value chain. For research and (pre-) development, Design for Additive Manufacturing (DfAM) enables novel and innovative measurement concepts with advanced functionalities. Feasibility studies, including experimental results on key performance indicators, are described and the proof of concept is discussed. Going further, design departments benefit from rapid realization of prototypes with in-house AM production. Especially since the Covid-19 pandemic, long delivery times from external suppliers influence the development process. This paper shows how AM has contributed during this phase in terms of speed, innovation and costs but also the importance of relevant know-how to start an AM transformation. Besides rapid prototyping, the existing AM machines already produce 65 serial parts for AVL’s measurement devices. First results show that not only delivery times were reduced by 80% but also substantial cost savings of up to 40% - compared to the external purchasing - could be achieved. With that in mind, the in-house AM production ecosystem will be further expanded to bring value and manufacturing know-how into the company.