Automotive Part Manufacturing
New product development is the lifeblood of your business. You need partners that can help you move your ideas from concept to production – fast. Learn how Fathom can help you accelerate your NPI.
Comprehensive Capabilities for the Automotive Industry
As a manufacturer in the turbulent automotive industry, your company has had to become agile to survive and thrive. You expect the same from your suppliers.
If you’re looking for a contract manufacturer that offers deep engineering expertise in your industry, speed and adaptability, Fathom can help you accelerate your new product innovation, prototyping and production programs.
We’ll work with you every step of the way, providing you with advice and expertise to:
- Refine your development concepts into prototypes.
- Optimize your part designs, material selection and production processes for optimal results, and
- Move your product through the full product-to-market process. We offer solutions for bridge production, short-run production or full production. li>Move them into bridge production, short-run production or full production.
How Can Fathom Help You With Your Automotive Part Needs?
From the moment you contact us, you’ll be collaborating with an engineer who will work closely with you to fully understand your project needs. For example, we take a hands-on, personalized approach to ensure that all potential manufacturability problems are identified and mitigated early in the review process. We’ll help you identify the optimal manufacturing solution for your project through part design review, material selection recommendations, tolerance reviews, and more; all to provide the best solution at a competitive cost.
Our broad portfolio of manufacturing technologies covers everything from CNC machining and metal forming to injection molding and the latest additive technologies. With over 25 manufacturing methods and 11 locations, we’re technology-agnostic. We’ll guide you to the solution that makes the most sense for your needs and the environment in which your parts must perform.
Technologies for the Automotive Industry
Additive Manufacturing
Additive technologies, such as Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM), Selective Laser Sintering (SLS), Selective Thermoplastic Electrophotographic Process (STEP), Multi Jet Fusion (MJF) and Direct Metal Laser Sintering (DMLS), can be used to produce prototype parts for fit, finish and functionality purposes. In many cases, they can also be used to produce bridge and limited-run production parts.
Selective Thermoplastic Electrophotographic Process (STEP)
STEP technology, exclusively available from Fathom, enables the additive production of tough, durable, high-precision thermoplastic parts at injection molding costs and speeds. It is already being leveraged to produce a variety of prototype and short-run production parts for new automotive models.
Direct Metal Laser Sintering (DMLS)
DMLS can be used to produce complex metal parts quickly. This advanced additive technology can produce conformal cooling channels, optimized internal volumes and many other special features that cannot be successfully manufactured using traditional manufacturing techniques.
Injection Molding
Injection molding offers tough production-grade thermoplastic materials. Injection molded parts are not only used in vehicle interiors but also under-hood applications, exterior paneling, fluid tanks, brackets, supports and cowlings. Overmolding can be used to mold a softer material over a harder one to provide a cushioned surface, to meet a variety of aesthetic automotive interior and exterior needs.
Urethane Casting
Urethane Casting is an ideal way to produce low- to mid-volume quantities of parts quickly for functional and cosmetic testing. It can be used to produce parts with complex geometries and fine detail. In addition, it can be used to create both rigid and flexible, elastomer-like parts. This is a great manufacturing solution to help bridge the gap between your first new product introduction (NPI) and the start of production (SOP).
Sheet Metal Fabrication
Sheet metal can be used to fabricate a variety of interior and exterior components for vehicles, including body panels and doors.
Metal Cutting & Precision Forming
Automotive vehicles require brackets and other small metal parts to manage wiring, hoses and other components. These parts can be fabricated by Fathom to your desired specifications with our Metal Cutting & Precision Forming services. We can also handle larger projects like vehicle center console frames and dashboard frames.
Automobile Part Manufacturing Applications
- Exterior trim body parts and panels
- Undercar aero shields and panels
- Fluid tanks and plastic housings
- Underhood components
- Wiring harnesses
- Interior trim
- Mounts and brackets for in-dash navigation and entertainment systems
- Manufacturing tooling and fixtures
Application
Spotlight //
Analyze the Fluid Flow of Under-Hood Components with 3D Printing
Stereolithography (SLA) provides the ability to print clear parts, and through post-processing techniques, you can increase the clarity of these parts even more, giving you the ability to analyze the flow in a physical environment against the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis to validate the simulation models.
Why Choose Fathom?
- We understand the environments that your parts are exposed to, from the ground and air to space.
- We have the certifications and technical experience to be able to deliver high-performance, cost-effective parts that meet your requirements.
- We can support your needs throughout the product development lifecycle – from early prototypes for design validation and late-stage prototypes to verify fit, finish and functionality as well as bridge production and full production.
- We offer an unmatched breadth of manufacturing technologies – in-house, not via third parties – to meet all of your needs, including additive manufacturing, injection molding, sheet metal forming and precision CNC machining.
- We have a long track record of success delivering high-quality parts to a variety of aerospace companies, military agencies and other organizations that serve these cutting-edge industries.
- We’re problem solvers. Bring us your complex geometries, short-run/high-mix parts and “impossible” projects. We’ll help you get the work done!
