About Geyushi
Geyushi Motors assembles buses and needs to cover the open ends of metal rails inside the buses. They designed custom end caps for the rails and looked for the best manufacturing way to make them.
Industry
Automotive
Product
End Cap, Seat Rail Cap
Location
10th of Ramadan industrial city
Why Fab Lab Egypt
Geyushi chose to achieve their goal of low-batch production for the required parts through 3D Printing Technology, knowing that Fab Lab Egypt offers this service.
The Challenge: Enhancing Aesthetics and Functionality in Bus interior design
For many companies in the automotive industry, innovation starts with a vision for smarter, more efficient production processes. Geyushi, an automotive industry expert, is no exception. While assembling bus components, they encountered a unique challenge: open-ended metal rails that required a neat, durable finish customized to match the shape of each rail end.
According to Geyushi's production manager, "We were looking for a way to enhance the overall appearance of the rails inside the buses—specifically, the bus seat track and led profile concealed in the stairs—and provide a Quality to these bus parts."
Beyond Aesthetics: The Functional Benefits of End Caps
While the initial focus was on improving aesthetics, let’s go through additional benefits offered by these end caps:
1. Extended Component Lifespan
By protecting the exposed ends of metal rails, end caps prevent wear and tear, corrosion, and damage from frequent use.
2. Enhanced Safety
Covered rail ends smooth out sharp edges of metal rails, helping prevent injuries to passengers and maintenance workers.
3. Noise Reduction
By covering hollow metal ends, end caps can help reduce vibrations and noise inside the bus, improving passenger comfort.
4. Customization Opportunities
3D printing technology allows for custom-designed end caps that better match the bus parts.
The Solution: leveraging 3D Printing Technology
Geyushi knew exactly how many parts they needed right from the beginning. This made 3D printing a better choice than traditional manufacturing methods like plastic injection molding that requires an expensive mold, making it impractical for their small production of end caps and potential future design changes. Instead, 3D Printing Technology offered Geyushi a flexible and cost-effective solution tailored to meet their unique requirements.
According to Geyushi's business development manager, "3D printing technology eliminated our need for traditional manufacturing methods and significantly reduced costs."
The steps: From Design to Implementation
Design
The process began with finalized 3D file designs for end caps provided by Geyushi. These designs were made to match track, channel profiles, ensuring a perfect fit for the rail end shape dimensions.
3D Printing
With the optimized 3D files in hand, the printing process began. A total of 440 end cap sets and 250 seat rail caps were printed in two batches, with a total of 526 hours of printing, ensuring efficient production while maintaining high-quality standards.
Post-Processing
After printing, each seat rail cap went through post-processing to ensure a smooth finish. The caps were carefully removed from the printing bed and cleaned to eliminate support structures or excess material. A hot air gun was used to remove strings, smooth out imperfections, and create a uniform surface.
The Result
Enhancing the look of bus interior design while improving production efficiency, saving costs, and increasing product lifespan has made the use of 3D printing technology a great success. Plans are in place to explore more ways to incorporate 3D printing into similar projects.
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