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If you have always wanted a Bentley and could afford one as well, there is good news for your future car. Volkswagen-owned Bentley Motors has added a major £3 million ($3.4 million) investment into doubling its 3D printing capacity at the Crewe factory in Cheshire, England.
This will speed up component making for Bentley, which means the waiting period to get your new Bentley, or even parts for your existing Bentley may go down, and it’s a good thing.
Bentley Motors Wants Owners To Get Better Customizations
Bentley Motors is one of the most sought-after luxury car brands in the world. All its cars come from the East Cheshire factory in Crewe, the company’s HQ. All the “design, R&D, engineering and production of the company’s three model lines, Continental, Flying Spur, and Bentayga” happens here.
According to Bentley, some 4,000 people work at Crewe. In 2021 alone, this facility produced a record-high 15,000 components. The £3 million investment will now double its Additive Manufacturing (AM) capacity. This will enable Bentley to use this tech to create 3D printed vehicle components. This will lead to even greater personalization in Bentley models, meaning now there could be a Bentley for everyone, as long as they can afford it.
The Additive Manufacturing systems convert 3D CAD models into actual physical components and are one of the fastest developing technologies in the world today. This tech is also used extensively in health, electronics, and much more.
Bentley plans to use it for a wide variety of things: “on-the-job assisted tools for manufacturing colleagues, such as lightweight sanding blocks in Bentley’s iconic wood shop, parts for the Bentley Blower Continuation model, and even face shields provided to the healthcare sector due to the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Proven Prowess In Prototype Bentleys
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AM systems have already created components for many Bentley prototypes that include powertrain and wind tunnel models. Some of these parts also went into the Bentley models that raced in the Pikes Peak Challenge in the US.
With AM, production speeds up, and Bentley believes it does not need to outsource parts production anymore. This is part of its “Beyond100 strategy,” which marries sustainability with prowess. With AM, Bentley claims it will have a 50% cost saving on making parts. Since AM is automatic, round-the-clock operations are possible as well.
Peter Bosch, Bentley’s Member of the Board for Manufacturing gave a statement, “Bentley’s approach to additive manufacturing is industry-leading, and the facility is quickly becoming a cornerstone of our ‘Dream Factory’ ambitions. One of the key benefits is that it is efficiency-led, cutting down on the cost and complexity of a myriad of jobs.
Source: Bentley