Wabtec Begins Operations at Additive Manufacturing Hub
PITTSBURGH—Wabtec Corp. has begun operations at Neighborhood 91, a new additive manufacturing production campus here.
“Advances in additive manufacturing technology are changing the way we design and build the next generation of business-critical, sustainable products for our customers,” said Eric Gebhardt, Wabtec’s chief technology officer. “Neighborhood 91 and its one-of-a-kind additive ecosystem will help foster creative solutions to engineering challenges and breakthroughs in 3D printing.”
Located near Pittsburgh International Airport, the 11,000-square-foot facility features an SLM 800 printer from SLM Solutions, which will produce large-scale, lightweight metal parts for rail industry customers. Production will include metal aluminum transit components, such as brake parts and heat sinks for freight locomotives. Applying additive manufacturing technology to some of these applications will reduce lead times by up to 80 percent.
The new facility is part of Wabtec’s initiative to use additive manufacturing to provide parts faster, with a simplified supply chain, applying advanced features that improve the application, all at a competitive price point. The company plans to use additive technologies to produce more than 25,000 parts by 2025 in support of the internal supply chain.
The goal of the Neighborhood 91 development is to condense and connect all components of the additive manufacturing and 3D-printing supply chain into one production ecosystem. It will house a complete end-to-end additive supply chain ranging from the powders to production, testing, analysis and delivery. Neighborhood 91 tenants gain efficiencies in production, cost savings from on-demand printing, and access to a major international airport.
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