In commercial vehicle manufacturing, any new process has to live up to demanding safety and traceability standards. That’s especially true for 3D printing.

Bendix Commercial Vehicle Systems develops braking and safety components for trucks that can weigh up to 80,000 pounds. Their Advanced Engineering & Additive Team, led by Mark Matko, is proving how SLS 3D printing with the Formlabs Fuse 1+ 30W can move beyond prototyping and into real, production‑adjacent work on the factory floor.

So far in 2025, Bendix has printed more than 3,200 parts on their Fuse 1+ 30W, outpacing even their high‑volume FDM printers.

Meeting Traceability and Safety Requirements

In many factories, 3D printing still lives inside R&D and prototyping groups. Bendix is pushing it much closer to production, which means additive has to meet the same expectations as metal and molded parts.

“The challenges we still have are that if we manufacture additively, we have to ensure there’s traceability to the printer and the location within that printer,” says Matko.

For safety‑critical parts on commercial vehicles, that kind of traceability is non‑negotiable. Bendix is building systems so every 3D printed component can be tracked just like a metal spring or molded duct. That takes time and data.

Matko already has three years of records on cost per part, printer performance, savings, and efficiency improvements. But before end‑use additive parts can go on trucks, Bendix is using manufacturing aids, prototypes, mock‑ups, and fixtures to prove out SLS as a dependable technology.

Why Bendix Leans So Heavily on SLS

Matko runs a fleet of printers at Bendix, each with its own strengths. Even so, he turns to SLS almost half the time because it delivers functional parts that can handle aggressive testing and real factory use.

“We can apply air pressure to SLS, we can tap SLS parts to put threads or fittings in. We can do lots of small pieces or larger parts with unlimited geometries, and we can get them quickly, without messy post‑processing.”

Bendix prints on the Fuse Series nearly every day, using SLS for:

  • Fixtures, jigs, and robotic end‑of‑arm tooling
  • Test fixtures and lifetime test components
  • Low‑volume production parts where traditional tooling doesn’t make sense
  • Detailed display models for trade shows and customer visits

The Fuse Blast has been important here as well. Automated depowdering cuts manual cleanup time so the team can keep up with higher part volumes.

Application 1: Controller Top – Solving OEM Obsolescence (1,000 pcs/year)

This controller top covers the electronic system that manages the continuous air supply in commercial vehicles. Originally, it was molded as part of a single valve assembly. For low volumes, that approach was expensive.

By moving the part to SLS on the Fuse 1+:

  • Bendix can avoid retooling for a low‑volume part.
  • Producing the controller top additively can reduce part price by up to 40% compared to re‑opening injection molding.
  • Bendix can print roughly 1,000 pieces per year and update designs as needed without incurring new tooling charges.

“This is actually one of our actions with obsolescence, which is a big reason for us to use 3D printing. We don’t want to retool these parts because they’re low-volume. We can print 1,000 of them a year, and then never incur tooling costs again, even when there are revisions to the part,” says Matko.

Application 2: Camera Mount for a Robotic Assembly Cell

Bendix moved an engine dampener assembly from manual work to a fully automated robotic cell. The AI camera in that cell measures each component and tells the system which gripper size to use.

While aluminum tooling was being made, Matko printed every fixture, mount, bracket, and gripper for the cell on the Fuse Series, including the camera mount itself.

Key details:

  • The camera mount is a multi‑part SLS assembly with interference fits at each joint.
  • Parts are tapped together with a hammer and held in place with steel bolts.
  • Bendix could program and test the robotic cell without waiting for machined aluminum.

“We were able to test and program the robotic cell without waiting for aluminum tooling — everything was printed on the Fuse and we could do multiple iterations of every piece without holding things up, while saving a lot of money on machining,” says Matko.

Application 3: Enclosure and Cover (1,000‑piece build)

This two‑piece SLS enclosure and cover allow a connector to be soldered to a PCB and then installed as a complete unit. The design:

  • Uses a seal between the two halves
  • Snaps together securely
  • Is effectively water‑resistant despite not being fully exposed to the environment

Previously, Bendix would overmold the PCB, shooting plastic around the assembled part.

“Although the part is not exposed to the environment, it’s pretty much waterproof now. The SLS two-piece enclosure fits together smoothly, so you can take the components out if you need to, unlike the overmolded plastic,” says Matko.

Application 4: Park Valve Tester – Letting the Fixture Take the Wear

Bendix uses a park valve tester as part of an overall lifetime testing fixture. It cycles the Bendix MV‑3 dash valve buttons in and out, simulating years of driver use.

Originally, the tester used machined aluminum parts. Those parts were more durable than the buttons themselves and caused premature wear, forcing Bendix to replace buttons before they reached their true lifetime limit.

With SLS nylon parts printed on the Fuse 1+:

  • The fixture components wear instead of the valve buttons.
  • Bendix can print a batch of around 20 SLS parts and replace them as needed during testing.
  • Lifetime data now reflects the component being tested, not the limitations of the fixture.

“With SLS nylon parts, we can print 20 parts on the Fuse, and replace them when we need to, as we’re still in the lifecycle testing and the fixture can take the wear, not the part being tested,” says Matko.

Application 5: Electrical Cover for Electric Truck Maintenance

When technicians service an electric semi‑truck, they must disconnect and cover high‑voltage plugs for safety. OEMs sell protective covers, but if a contractor forgets to bring them, work stops.

Instead of waiting up to six hours for a replacement cover, Matko printed a new one on the Fuse in about 90 minutes, allowing maintenance to proceed safely and on schedule.

This is a classic example of how SLS turns unexpected downtime into a quick print job using in‑house equipment.

Application 6: Electric Compressor Display Part

Bendix also uses the Fuse Series for customer‑facing parts. One example is a one‑fifth‑scale reproduction of their electric compressor:

  • The model is about five inches long.
  • A pull‑tie on the model actually rotates.
  • The detail level is high, with minimal post‑processing required.

“Being able to print something with this much detail that didn’t require a lot of post-processing has been huge for trade shows and customer visits. The 3D model allows us to show how we've designed the real component without having to get the entire compressor out,” says Matko.

Building Toward End‑Use Additive Production

Today, Bendix mainly uses SLS for:

  • Manufacturing aids
  • Prototypes and mock‑ups
  • Robotic tooling and fixtures
  • Trade show and training models

The long‑term goal is to move select end‑use components into additive production.

Bendix is part of Knorr‑Bremse, based in Munich, Germany, a country that has been at the forefront of additive innovation in the automotive industry. That background, combined with Matko’s meticulous data‑gathering, is helping Bendix build internal confidence in additive as an alternative to traditional manufacturing.

“We're owned by a German company that champions the use of additive manufacturing. The end goal is to get to a place where we can start to pursue end-use 3D printed production. We are just now at a point where the technology and chemistry are matching the requirements that the automotive industry requires, and harnessing this will favorably position us in the industry," says Matko.

The next step is to identify which of the company’s roughly 10,000 candidate parts might move to true additive production.

“Our next step is additive manufacturing for production. We’re trying to identify which parts we can do with additive manufacturing. There are probably 10,000 parts that have potential, and maybe 10% of those will end up being end-use 3D printed. Our Advanced Manufacturing Engineering organization is leading a cross-functional team evaluating options to move from product development into production. This involves simulation, using established industry standards from the US and abroad, as well as AI to determine which components fit the desired criteria for production."

Explore SLS and the Fuse 1+ with MatterHackers

Bendix’s experience shows how SLS with the Formlabs Fuse 1+ 30W can:

  • Keep high‑value parts available without retooling
  • Support automation projects while tooling is in progress
  • Make test fixtures and lifetime rigs more realistic
  • Reduce downtime in maintenance and service operations
  • Deliver detailed, durable models for sales and training

If you want to explore similar applications in your facility, MatterHackers can help you evaluate Formlabs SLS for your specific parts and workflows.