Jabil is partnering with Renault to produce 3D printed parts for the automaker’s racing car competing in the 2019 Formula One World Championship. The agreement will accelerate the development and delivery of 3D parts for the Renault R.S.19 vehicle.
“We’re excited to be part of Renault F1 Team’s strategy to improve performance with additive manufacturing,” said John Dulchinos, Jabil’s Vice President of digital manufacturing. “Our ability to consolidate a global supply chain and scale qualified processes as needed will enable the production of chassis and on-car components in record time.”
Jabil has been expanding its 3D printing capabilites around the world—a network of 100 facilities in 26 countries with a global additive manufacturing network of more than 200 3D printers. This expansion responds to the increasing 3D printing needs of highly regulated industries such as health care, aerospace—and automotive.
“We look forward to taking advantage of Jabil’s growing ecosystem of certified materials, processes and machines to boost parts availability and overall productivity,” said Antoine Magnan, Head of Partnerships, Renault Sport Racing.
Renault’s F1 team was an early adopter of 3D printing, drawn to the technology as an inexpensive and fast solution to producing F1 car parts that reduced vehicle weight without sacrificing part performance. But the rest of the Formula One field has kept pace.
F1 teams originally adopted 3D printing as a tool to create and test prototypes—but they have been transitioning into using the technology to produce parts for use by its active racing vehicles. In fact, most F1 teams have partnered with 3D printing companies: MacLaren with Stratasys, Williams with EOS, Sauber with Additive Industries, and Ferrari with Magneti Marelli. The technology is ideal for creating new product iterations quickly, and for fixing complex engineering challenges through fast prototyping, design flexibility, enhanced wind tunnel testing and rapid tooling production.
Video: the Renault team has also worked with 3D Systems for additive manufacturing.
Renault will surely call on Jabil’s enhanced capabilities to produce top-quality car parts for its F1 team as it crisscrosses the globe from one race to another. Due to the global nature of the sport, with races held in countries like Spain, China, the U.S. and Bahrain, having access to Jabil’s growing worldwide network of 3D printing facilities will give Renault a definite boost.
Read more about additive manufacturing in race cars at ABB Took an Electric Race Car to the Davos Summit.