A subsidiary of Honda Group and headquartered in Tokyo, Honda Access manufactures accessories for cars, motorcycles and other items worldwide. One of its specialties is customizing accessories to local buyers’ preferences. Accessories play an important role in differentiating global sales; hence, the available accessories for any given Honda model range anywhere from two to three hundred items.
“We realized that 3D printing would be extremely advantageous for product development.”Honda Access later purchased an Objet Eden 500V 3D printer for its accuracy, speed, build size, easy support material removal and its ability to create fine details — factors critical to the company’s product verification process. Honda Access has since realized so many additional advantages to 3D printer ownership.
The new 3D printer helped it improve its customization services. “3D printers allow us to synchronize the development schedule with that of the vehicle itself and create the accessory parts simultaneously, improving both the quality and speed of the prototype process,” comments Takemori.