Case Study: Grede Iron Mountain achieves faster lead times and tooling cost savings with ExOne binder-jet 3D printing

A Century of Experience Embracing Disruptive Metalcasting Technology

Grede Iron Mountain, a 102‑year‑old foundry in Iron Mountain, Michigan, needed to modernize core making to support highly cored, intricate castings for automotive, heavy‑duty truck and industrial customers. Facing labor‑intensive core shooters, high tooling costs, long lead times and limited design freedom, Grede turned to ExOne binder‑jet 3D printing (S‑Max and S‑Max Pro) to improve repeatability, speed to market, and collaborative design capabilities.

ExOne’s S‑Max systems were installed beginning in 2018 and an S‑Max Pro added in 2021, letting Grede print complex monolithic cores, run printers 24/7, and scale capacity — the first machine produced nearly 300,000 parts per year and one part once consumed ~20% of a printer’s annual capacity. The shift cut tooling expense (replacing multiple $50,000 core boxes with a single printed core), doubled effective output per shift, processed ~71 tons of silica sand per machine per year with ongoing sand reclamation, and enabled rapid prototyping (parts shown to customers in two weeks and a one‑week prototype delivery), all delivered through ExOne’s binder‑jet technology.

Grede Iron Mountain

Tyler Hill

Plant Manager