The Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB-Technical-Service GmbH) operate a complex system for maintaining their fleet, which transports over 494 million passengers and 78 million tons of freight every year. The availability of spare parts is a key challenge, especially for obsolete components that are no longer manufactured. To avoid manual and inefficient processes in the evaluation and procurement of spare parts, ÖBB-Technical-Service GmbH recently started using the AI-based platform from 3D Spark.
The platform is used for the automated analysis and evaluation of additive manufacturing options for over 100,000 listed spare parts. Previously, manufacturability, technology selection, costs and make-or-buy decisions had to be laboriously processed manually using various software tools such as CAD, Slicer and Excel. This required a lot of specialist knowledge, was prone to errors and tied up considerable resources.
Markus Goeberndorfer, Application Engineer at ÖBB-Technical-Service GmbH, said: “The manufacturing costing estimates from 3D Spark were highly accurate, within 2-3% of our in-house calculations. This accuracy built trust and saved 90% of manual time, enabling us to make confident decisions,” said Markus.
With 3D Spark, feasibility analyses and cost calculations can now be consolidated and automated. The platform integrates a supplier network that provides immediate price indications and automatically forwards requests for quotations when needed. As a result, ÖBB has been able to reduce the internal effort for requests for quotations by around 75 percent and at the same time increase the order rate from suppliers by 400 percent.
Patrick Klein, Application Engineer at ÖBB-Technical-Service GmbH, said: “3D Spark allows us to accurately calculate part costs and analyze our 100,000+ spare parts portfolio for cost and lead time savings. It’s essential for managing our complex inventory efficiently and supports our mission for sustainable, low-cost mobility solutions,” said Patrick.
A key aspect is the high accuracy of the cost estimates: According to ÖBB-Technical-Service GmbH, the deviation is typically just two to three percent. This enables precise calculations and the creation of a digital image of production, in which offers can be created within a few minutes.
The integration of 3D Spark has increased ÖBB-Technical-Service GmbH’s quotation capacity tenfold and reduced operational expenditure in the procurement process by 20 percent. The platform also specifically supports the company’s sustainability goal by systematically identifying CO₂ savings potential for spare parts.
Metal Binder Jetting: The Key to Efficient Tool Manufacturing? - Exclusive Insights from INDO-MIM
Fill out the form and get instant access to an exclusive webinar on HP's Metal Binder Jetting 3D printing technology with exciting insights from INDO-MIM.Subscribe to our Newsletter
3DPresso is a weekly newsletter that links to the most exciting global stories from the 3D printing and additive manufacturing industry.
