As requirements for engineering components
become more complex and diverse, product
designers at Premium found it increasingly difficult
to keep up with the fast-paced market. Constant
development of new, innovative designs was costly
and time-consuming using traditional fabrication
methods. Premium needed to accelerate the
product design cycle and enhance process
efficiency, and 3D printing technology was a fitting
solution.
“Precision is paramount to us even at the
preliminary stage, because any error in the
smallest component may lead to huge gaps in
the production stage, resulting in extra costs,
prolonged design and production time, and
material waste,” said Soumendu Mukhopadhyay,
DGM-R&D, Premium Transmission Ltd.
Before adopting 3D printing, Premium’s R&D
department made prototypes using traditional
manufacturing methods such as metal-cutting or casting. Production of one part using this methodology
took about three to six weeks and required extra material.
Creating a modular planetary unit that coupled helical gears and a variety of components involved
a series of steps through casting, fabrication and gear generation methods and assembly of small
components. Often the prototyped components could not be assembled together due to design and
manufacturing errors and required multiple iterations. Engineers doubted whether the parts could
withstand quality testing, and feared confidentiality breaches with outsourcing.
