How Automotive Manufacturers Can Benefit From Digital Manufacturing?

The automotive industry is facing a paradigm shift with increased customer expectations. Thus, they have to move to more improve manufacturing processes.

Fremont, CA: In the digital age, customer expectations have increased, and from simple FM radio or CD players to voice-activated navigation, live-streamed media, heads-up displays, advanced safety features, rear cameras, and more. Increased customer demands have put significant pressure on automotive manufacturers and their partners. Suppliers have to deliver a diverse collection of components at the right place at the right time. The designers are facing shorter development cycles; engineers are challenged with new materials and find innovative and agile methods of manufacturing. 

The automotive industry is facing immense technological innovation. Automakers are also repositioned as tech companies in this era as they have to encompass trends such as autonomous driving, electrification, demand volatility, lightweighting, and hyper-customization. The automotive players have to change with changing vehicles. To mitigate risk, automotive companies must launch new products in partnership with suppliers with expertise in digital manufacturing processes such as injection molding, CNC machining, industrial-grade 3D printing, and sheet metal fabrication.   

Digital manufacturing will become the bedrock for mass customization. It will change the way consumers buy goods in the future. The aftermarket vehicle parts landscape is already using the technology. Digital manufacturing specialists are witnessing a surge in the prototyping of spare parts for self-driving cars as well as various on-demand components for older vehicles. Additionally, automotive manufacturers are striving to reduce the overall weight of the vehicle for extra fuel efficiency. With a variety of new high-performance polymers, software tools, and digital suppliers, it is easier for manufacturers to accomplish incremental improvements. This leads to time and cost savings with the possibility to test multiple iterations of product design.  

Regardless of the manufacturing process, manufacturers need to gather feedback from the customers. To do so, organizations can use tools such as design analysis systems, automated quoting, and digital twin for rapid prototyping to bring innovation to the industry. These tools can provide valuable information about the product performance to the vehicle designers. Regardless of the industry, intelligent software systems are significant to manufacturers of all types. The digital tools can help manufacturers reduce the upfront engineering costs, test designs quickly, and lower the cost of market entry.  With digital manufacturing, the automotive industry can reach new heights.

See also: Top Automotive Technology Companies