Police fleet uses 3D printing for custom interior components

What began as a hobby in a home workshop has now become part of regular vehicle operations at West Midlands Police: vehicle technician Daniel Starns uses 3D printing to produce custom interior components for patrol vehicles. In the fleet, production vehicles are converted into police cars, including head-up displays, radio and data hardware as well as additional control panels. To achieve this, trims, consoles and brackets have to be adapted or completely replaced – previously a largely manual and time-consuming process involving sheet metal work and extensively modified plastic parts.

He transferred the dimensions of existing components into a CAD system, adapted geometries to the installation conditions and generated printable models from them. Initial prototypes showed that accurate replicas and functional parts can be produced, such as bezels for radios, mounts for control elements or covers for modified console areas.

Daniel said, “I was working through some of my own designs on my 3D printer when I realised we could probably put this technology to use in the day job. The fittings that we manufacture ourselves and those parts that we adapt are all made to measure and so I tried out the some of the specifications on my 3D printer and found that it produced good quality replica parts.”

The idea convinced acting fleet manager Kelvin Bevan, who saw potential to shorten conversion times and vehicle downtime. The workshop subsequently acquired its own 3D printer and now produces small series of parts for stock. These components are used both in the in-house workshop and by external body shops, reducing ordering processes with manufacturers and standardising workflows. Form and surface finish are closer to the original parts than earlier sheet-metal solutions with improvised brackets.

At a presentation of the new way of working, the Chief Constable was also impressed.

“It’s not just about embracing the technology we have at our disposal but making it work for us in a way that makes us more effective and ultimately improves the service we deliver to the public. Our fleet of vehicles is vital to our operations but maintaining it is a logistically challenging and resource-heavy operation. Ordering and replacing parts can be a time-consuming business and often puts our vehicles out of action while they’re waiting to be fixed. But now, thanks to this idea, we can speed up the process, and in a much shorter time we can make our vehicles available and get them out on the road where they should be.”

This example illustrates how FDM-based 3D printing can be integrated into existing maintenance processes to produce spare parts and special components on demand directly in the workshop – without the long supply chains of traditional parts procurement.