Source: Business News
Ford, Rivian, and GM are moving beyond experimental prototyping to use 3D printing for production tooling and genuine low-volume parts—a shift that compresses traditional supply chains and manufacturing lead times. The economics only work at scale if companies standardize designs and integrate printing into existing factories rather than treating it as a novelty tech. This concentrates competitive pressure on suppliers of legacy tooling and small-batch manufacturers who can't match the speed advantage. Automakers are internalizing capabilities that historically required separate vendors, which consolidates power and compresses margin among Tier 1 and Tier 2 suppliers.