Key figures
-94 %
Part weight
33 to 1
Part count
3 weeks
start to finish
Problem
The hydraulic block had 33 components, complex assembly, and a design built around the limits of traditional manufacturing. Avant Tecno needed to know what additive manufacturing could do instead.
Solution
3DStep and Enmac redesigned the block as a single AlSi10Mg aluminium part with an integrated filter and optimised hose outlets. Weight dropped from 2,910g to 175g. A working prototype was ready three weeks after the first meeting.
Results
Part count fell from 33 to 1. Assembly time and logistics costs dropped with it. The project also changed how Avant Tecno’s designers approach component geometry going forward.
Avant Tecno brought 3DStep a hydraulic block built around the limits of traditional manufacturing. Three weeks later, a single-part aluminium component had replaced 33. The project did not end in mass production, but it changed how Avant Tecno’s engineers think about design.
Avant Tecno manufactures compact loaders used across construction, agriculture, and municipal work. The hydraulic block in their machines had been designed around what machining and assembly allowed. Thirty-three components. Significant warehousing. Assembly time that added cost at every unit.
From first meeting to working prototype in three weeks.
Working together with Enmac, 3DStep took on the full redesign challenge. The hydraulic block was reimagined as a single AlSi10Mg aluminium component, with the coarse filter integrated into the printed structure and hose outlets optimised for a significantly smaller footprint.
“With the new manufacturing method, the weight of the block was reduced to less than one tenth and the number of parts dropped from 33 to one.”
Name
Title, Avant Tecno
The result was a part that weighed 175 grams. The original weighed 2,910 grams. Assembly steps dropped from thirty-three components to one.
A new way of thinking about component design.
The project demonstrated what design freedom in additive manufacturing can deliver: radical weight reduction, part consolidation, shorter assembly times, and lower logistics costs.
“Time and money are also saved with shorter assembly times and reduced warehousing and logistics costs. In many cases, these are overlooked in the cost comparison when looking only at the purchase price of the components.”
Name
Title, Avant Tecno
The more lasting outcome was a shift in how Avant Tecno’s designers approached the problem. The aluminium extrusion component now in production carries the geometry and thinking that came out of this project.
