Hitachi Rail to Adopt Additive Manufacturing in Factories in the U.S. and Italy

One of the sectors where we see the increasing use of 3D printing is the railroad industry. This is due to the fact that it faces the constant challenge of needing to supply parts with advanced properties in a short time. For this reason, additive manufacturing is proving to be the right choice for large players in the industry. Proof of this is the recent news of the partnership between Hitachi Rail, a pioneer in the rail industry, and Roboze, an Italian-American manufacturer of high-performance 3D printers. Hitachi Rail will install the ROBOZE ARGO 500 3D printer at its high-tech plant in Naples and its new facility in Washington County, Maryland.

With sales of more than $7 billion and 24,000 employees in more than 50 countries, Hitachi Rail is a company with global reach, but one that focuses on local operations through investment in people and communities. Famous for Japan’s iconic high-speed bullet train, the company aims to achieve top results in each of the countries where it operates, focusing in this case on Italy and the United States.

Hitachi Rail has signed a contract with the City of Naples to supply 22 trains by 2025 for the city’s new Metro Line 6 (photo credits: City of Naples)

The partnership between Hitachi Rail and Roboze was created primarily to address the problem of the limited availability of spare parts in the rail industry and the associated costs. By implementing the Roboze ARGO 500 solution, Hitachi Rail plans to replace metal parts, traditionally machined by chip removal, with 3D printed parts made of high-performance materials such as ULTEM™ 9085 and Carbon PEEK. This will enable the company to significantly reduce costs and lead times for parts destined for trains.