The first 3D-printed lifting tool
Wärtsilä produced a carbon fibre lifting tool through additive manufacturing – the first in the world.
Every cargo ship has a lifting tool – a custom piece of hardware that allows them to move immensely heavy engine parts. These tools are traditionally made of solid steel, and many have unique shapes.
The arsenal at Wärtsilä’s design facilities in Vaasa and Trieste consists of several hundred tools and includes no fewer than 60 unique lifting tool designs. These tools are heavy, expensive to manufacture, and take up a lot of space. Delivery, usually by third-party suppliers, isn’t as fast as employees would want. They require around three to four months from order to installation.
Read more about the how the lifting tool case from Wärtsilä web page.
