Hitachi Rail, the railway systems business unit of Hitachi Ltd., has selected ROBOZE as a partner to reduce costs and delivery times for railway spare parts production. It is exploring the use of ROBOZE ARGO 500 industrial 3D printer for railway spare parts 3D printing to replace traditional machined metal parts with engineering grade polymer materials.
The company chose the ROBOZE ARGO 500 solution for use in its factory in Naples, Italy, and its new digital rail factory in Washington County, Maryland. Hitachi Rail can now use industrial 3D printing technology with materials like ULTEM™ 9085 and Carbon PEEK to produce spare parts for their trains.
Railway Spare Parts 3D Printing
The ROBOZE ARGO 500 is a large industrial FDM 3D printer designed for high-temperature printing. It is the first 3D printer for super polymers and composites to include the Roboze Automate technological ecosystem, which adds industrial automation to 3D printing. The ARGO 500 3D printer can print with 17 different materials and has a large build volume of 500 x 500 x 500 mm.
Hitachi Rail’s $70 million Washington County facility will deliver a new fleet of 8000-series railcars to the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. Hitachi Rail says it will be able to use ROBBOZE’s 3D printing solution to produce prototypes and railway spare parts.
Hitachi Rail notes that the railway industry has faced challenges in terms of spare part availability and costs. Hitachi Rail can use the ARGO 500 solution to replace traditionally machined metal parts, significantly reducing costs and delivery times through additive manufacturing.
“Our partnership with ROBOZE underlines our commitment to delivering advanced, high-quality manufacturing for our customers. The partnership will enable us to harness 3D printing to improve operational efficiency and reduce costs for producing prototypes and railway spare parts. This additive solution will be used at our Naples site in Italy and our new digital factory in Washington County, Maryland. allowing us to respond effectively to our customers’ needs.”
– Luca D’Aquila, COO Hitachi Rail Group and CEO Hitachi Rail Italy
Hitachi Rail and ROBOZE collaborate on more than just machine supply. Hitachi Rail will also benefit from the engineering and consulting services provided by ROBOZE’s expert teams in the United States and Italy, ensuring ongoing and highly specialised support.