Replacement part production

3d printing technology has an increasing role in replacement part production.

This impact is most significant in the production lines where any downtime for part replacement is expensive.

Traditional production methods require prior mold design prior and production is cost efficient only for high production series. On the contrary, replacement parts require short lead times and low part numbers. This makes the 3d printing technology ideal since it meets there requirements, although an individual 3d printed part costs more than injected or stamped part. 

The other advantage of 3d printng is the design optimization ability during reverse engineering. This enables the engineer to minimize design flaws which caused the original part to fail.