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Deutsche Bahn integriert 3D Spark Carbon Reporting Tool zur Echtzeit-Überwachung von 3D-Druck-Emissionen und nachhaltigen Fertigungsupgrades

September 23, 2025 Applications 152

With the growing global emphasis on sustainability in manufacturing, companies are facing increasingly stringent requirements for emissions measurement and disclosure.

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Deutsche Bahn (DB), Germany's railway operator, has officially approved and integrated 3D Spark's CO₂ reporting tool into its additive manufacturing process for spare parts. Following a successful validation of the tool's accuracy, the technology has been fully incorporated into DB's 3D printing workflow, significantly enhancing its carbon emission monitoring and management capabilities.

With the growing global emphasis on sustainability in manufacturing, companies are facing increasingly stringent requirements for emissions measurement and disclosure. Regulations such as the European Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), and the Emissions Trading System (ETS) are continuously strengthening the oversight of industrial carbon emissions.

In the United States, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has proposed new climate disclosure rules, while California has introduced its own climate accountability package. Beyond these national efforts, global standards including the Greenhouse Gas Protocol and the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) are establishing benchmarks for consistent and transparent reporting.

Arvid Eirich, Head of Additive Manufacturing at Deutsche Bahn, stated, "The implementation of 3D Spark's CO₂ emissions platform at Deutsche Bahn has delivered significant benefits by enhancing our ability to streamline sustainability decision-making. The tool provides reliable, real-time CO₂ emission reports based on high-quality estimations, supporting our commitment to reducing environmental impact while optimizing efficiency."

The dashboard of the 3D Spark platform displays the cost, time, and CO₂ reduction achievements for Deutsche Bahn's additive manufacturing operations.

Automated 3D Printing Carbon Data Generation

To keep pace, Deutsche Bahn has identified three key priorities: automating the carbon assessment of each 3D-printed part, ensuring emission data can guide the choice of manufacturing technology, and streamlining reporting so that compliance requirements do not slow down decision-making.

Achieving these goals proved highly difficult with conventional methods. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) tools like Sphera GaBi, Ecoinvent, or SimaPro can provide accurate results. However, they require approximately 8 hours of expert input and take 3-5 days to deliver outcomes. These tools are costly, demand specialized training, and were not designed with additive manufacturing in mind, making them unsuitable for daily production needs.

Automated Manufacturing Feasibility and Technical Analysis: How the 3D Spark Platform Streamlines Sustainable Production

According to 3D Spark, its automated manufacturing feasibility and technical analysis platform enables simultaneous evaluation of manufacturability, cost, lead time, and CO₂ emissions when teams upload CAD files, PDFs, or metadata. Emissions are broken down by material, build process, and post-processing steps. Unlike traditional tools, the calculation process is automated and delivers results in real time, with an accuracy of ±10%.

For Deutsche Bahn, this means that carbon data which previously took days to generate is now available instantly and seamlessly integrated into existing workflows. By eliminating the need for external software and consultants, the company has reduced costs while empowering engineers to weigh environmental impact alongside technical feasibility and cost—without disrupting production schedules.