When George
J. Smith founded S&S Cycle, Inc., in 1958, his goal
was simple: To make American motorcycles faster. Currently S&S stands as
an industry leader among after-market engine manufacturers as a company relying
completely on their own design and manufacturing for 100% of their engines. For
45 years S&S Cycle has been setting the standard for high performance engines
and engine parts for American motorcycles.
In 2001 S&S introduced the new Super Sidewinder Plus Head, and 3D Systems'
selective
laser sintering (SLS) systems were used throughout the entire project.
Initial 3D digital engineering and design work was verified through the rapid
creation of physical prototypes on the SLS system. "We have worked hard
over 45 years and earned
our reputation for proven performance. Being able to shorten our lead times
significantly while
giving us rapid prototypes to complete the fitment stage of design is a true
competitive advantage."
"Do the math: 26 weeks is an eternity in our field. If we would have
waited for the final tooling to come in, we would have been missing out on
a substantial
number of sales."
Once
the engineers and designers had the appearance and fit of the engine design
finalized, it was time to test performance. "A nice looking
motor is important, but S&S
is known for performance, and the only way to prove it is to get a real engine
in a real bike
and put it on the Dyno."
The SLS system was used to create a master pattern which S&S Cycle's tooling
partners were able to use to pour a mold from. This mold was used to cast aluminum
parts for
the engine that were 100% functional. Within four weeks from design completion,
the motor was
being put through exhaustive testing to verify performance and durability. "We
built shrink
right into the model and had the SLS part to our tooler in two days. They
used our prototype as the master
pattern and were able to get us 'as manufactured' samples for testing before
we ordered any
production tooling. Hard tooling is very expensive. You have to know that
you have it right, and
the SLS system made it possible."
The process used to create the test engine was again leveraged when it came
time for actual production. "We had a 30-week lead time for hard tooling. Our
pattern shop
was able to use our laser sintering (LS) parts again to produce bridge tooling,
and the foundry shipped
our first castings within four weeks. While the production tooling was being
made
we got
over 1500 molds off those tools". This allowed S&S to start shipping
product six
months earlier than expected.
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