[rev_slider alias=”heineken-success-story”]
Problem
The Seville brewery in Spain produces up to 500 million litres of beer every year. Heineken wanted to improve on the efficiency of production, and as a result started looking into Ultimaker 3D printing.
They created a 3D printing lab and planned out goals to improve the output, up time and safety of the manufacturing process. Consequently while trying to optimize the machines Heineken realised 3D printing was affordable and simple to get going. Additionally it gave them the speed and freedom that they needed.
Heineken’s first print was improved safety latches to be used during maintenance, which are bright red to help visibility. After printing these Heineken saw the advantages of using 3D printers to benefit other parts of the manufacturing process. Those being: replacements for metal parts, maintenance tools and quality check tools.
Solution
In conclusion after using the Ultimaker S5 printers for a year, the 3D printing project has been deemed a success. Being able to 3D print end-use parts from the manufacturing line on-demand has benefited lead time greatly. Additionally they have also been able to easily increase safety and efficiency with the rapid manufacture of custom tools and machine parts.
‘We’re still in the first stages of 3D printing but have already seen a reduction of costs in the applications that we found by 70 – 90%, and also a decrease of delivery time of 70 – 90%.’
Due to the success at Seville, the company is identifying the benefits of scaling the 3D printing benefits. For example allowing engineers and employers to gain a different perspective on challenges and opportunities the designs can be easily shared over a network. Resulting in the parts being sent digitally, avoiding freight costs and transportation movement, which in turn reduces the environmental costs.
