A reprint from CNBC
Additive manufacturing is on the cusp of being adopted more widely by industry, as large corporates Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company and Boeing as well as small innovative start-ups prove it can work well at scale in manufacturing.
Picture shows a non-pneumatic tire (NPT), an airless tire, during the presentation of the NPT tire of Goodyear in Colmar-Berg, Luxembourg, on May 17, 2022, where the tire manufacturer has a new plant where it is experimenting with 3D printing.
Francois Walschaerts | Afp | Getty Images
In May, Goodyear opened a $77 million plant in Luxembourg that centers on 3D printing and can make tires four times faster in small batches than with conventional production. Goodyear also is testing its new 3D printed airless tire technology on Tesla electric vehicles and Starship Technologies’ autonomous delivery robots. It has been working for the past several years on improved manufacturing techniques at an R&D center near Columbus, Ohio.
By 2030, Goodyear aims to bring maintenance-free and airless tires to market, and 3D printing is part of that effort for the Akron-based tire-making leader founded in 1898 and named after innovator Charles Goodyear. Currently, about 2% of its production is through additive manufacturing and more integration into the mix is in sight.
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