Schneider Electric Harnesses the Benefits of DLP 3D Printing to Create Replacement Parts

Schneider Electric is a European company founded in 1836, operating worldwide. It is engaged in the development and manufacture of air circuit breakers, among other things. They recently integrated additive manufacturing into their business to address the lack of stock in the supply chain for spare parts and tooling. In the facilities management department, they decided to adopt the Shape 1 3D printer, from the company RAYSHAPE, which allowed them to manufacture these parts more quickly and cheaply. For over 5 months, Schneider has been taking advantage of all the benefits offered by this innovative resin additive manufacturing process.

In the manufacturing industry, spare parts are not items that are produced in large series, so any breakdown in the supply chain can affect the entire industry on a massive scale. This is where 3D printing comes into play, which is a much faster and cheaper system for producing single items or short series compared to other traditional manufacturing methods. Moreover, with new advanced materials being developed in the industry, this is no longer an impediment for companies to adopt the technology. In fact, the latter was particularly important for Schneider, as most of its applications require materials with high toughness, but with adequate dimensional accuracy. To address this, they turned to Chinese manufacturer RAYSHAPE, dedicated to the development of professional DLP 3D printing solutions, including machines, materials and post-processing solutions.

Schneider Electric has integrated RAYSHAPE’s Shape 1 3D printer into its business (photo credits: RAYSHAPE)

Advantages of Adopting DLP 3D Printing

By integrating resin additive manufacturing into its business, Schneider cut time out of the collaboration chain, which requires engineers, suppliers and purchasing managers to create the final part. Thanks to RAYSHAPE’s Shape 1 3D printer, the engineers were able to solve the problem by designing and 3D printing the replacement parts. Unlike CNC machining, which is a method that requires more effort and time, 3D printing is a technology with which front-line engineers can solve problems that arise on the same day. In addition, one of the great advantages of this technology is that it can manufacture parts in a single process and in non-business hours, so problems can be solved instantly.