Case Study: SAIC-GM achieves faster prototyping and lower costs with Stratasys 3D printing

SAIC-GM Accelerates Prototyping Production with In-House 3D Printing

SAIC-GM, the Sino-foreign joint venture between Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation and General Motors, faced long prototype cycles and mounting demands across R&D and production teams that delayed vehicle development. To accelerate iterations and support trial production needs, SAIC-GM turned to Stratasys, deploying Stratasys FDM technology including the Fortus 450mc 3D printer and ABS‑M30 material for prototyping, tooling and short-run production parts.

Stratasys’ in‑house FDM solution enabled SAIC-GM to complete 14 TAC fixture projects with over 300 prints (>60,000 g), cutting part cost by 79%, turnaround time by 83% and TAC weight by 21%, and saving about RMB 840,000 (≈USD 120,000) in one year. Beyond faster prototyping, Stratasys parts met temperature, chemical and mechanical requirements, supported shop‑floor tooling and small‑batch assembly parts, and allowed SAIC-GM to identify and fix production issues earlier in the trial phase.

SAIC-GM

Zhou Yang

Prototyping Manager