The automotive company MINI has launched MINI Yours Customised, a new 3D printing service that will allow customers to design custom interior and exterior trim pieces and have them 3D printed for their car.
Many people believe that cars, much like dogs, tend to reflect the personality of the owner. The bubbly and bug-eyed MINI is certainly no exception to this rule.
This past week, the British automotive marque MINI launched MINI Yours Customised, a 3D printing service that will allow customers to design their own interior and exterior trim pieces and have them 3D printed.
There are a wide range of components to modify and choose from, including the side scuttles for the exterior turn signals, the passenger-side dash trim, LED aluminum door sills, and the LED door projector. MINI is utilizing 3D printing and laser cutting technology within its production facilities in Germany to deliver these unique, customized parts to customers.
The 3D printing service will allow customers to select, design, or upgrade parts from the new Online Shop. These parts take just a few weeks to be manufactured before they’re ready for the road.
“MINI Yours Customised” Puts Power of Customization into the Driver’s Hand
MINI Yours Customised offers a user-friendly customization tool that enables every customer to use their own creativity. Each design can be selected and configured before being sent off to the facility for production. For example, the customer can choose different colors, surface finishes, and patterns for their side scuttles and trims.
With the help of MINI’s parent company, BMW Group, the automotive marque has gotten its hands on some impressive 3D printing technology. This stems for various partnerships between BMW and the likes of Hewlett-Packard Inc., Carbon, and EOS GmbH. Laser cutting is also used to perform tasks such as etching the customer’s name into the door sill.
The new service from MINI also aims to develop a community of creative users who are sharing their designs on social media and inspiring others.
“MINI is committed to digitalisation and innovative production procedures for realising individual customer wishes. Alongside the global web shop, a completely new distribution chain has been installed for direct sales to the customer. Equally, the 3D printing procedure has been specially tailored to the production of individual products in large numbers for the MINI Yours Customised package,” BMW Group stated.
Although the new 3D printing service is major news for the automotive industry, MINI’s latest use of the technology isn’t exactly shocking. Just last week, BMW released a number of 3D printable Christmas ornaments, while also sharing the different ways that additive manufacturing his pushed its own iconic automotive brand forward.
Source: BMW Group
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