Wabtec begins operations at Pittsburgh campus

Wabtec Corp., a provider of equipment, systems, digital solutions, and value-added services for the freight and transit rail industries, recently began operating at Neighborhood 91.

Neighborhood 91 is an additive manufacturing production center located on Pittsburgh International Airport’s 195-acre Innovation Campus.

Wabtec’s 11,000-square-foot facility allows the company to drive innovation in the rail industry by growing its additive manufacturing capabilities, reducing lead times by up to 80 percent. It features a printer that produces state-of-the-art, large-scale, lightweight parts for rail industry customers. The technology will be used to produce metal aluminum transit components such as heat sinks for freight locomotives and brake parts.

“Advances in additive technology are changing the way we design and build the next generation of business-critical, sustainable products for our customers,” Eric Gebhardt, Wabtec’s chief technology officer, said. “Neighborhood 91 and its one-of-a-kind additive ecosystem will help foster creative solutions to engineering challenges and breakthroughs in 3D printing. Our Neighborhood 91 facility and the other additive labs in Western Pennsylvania will accelerate new innovations that shrink lead times, reduce cost and increase reliability.”

Wabtec, which employs approximately 27,000 people worldwide, will produce more than 25,000 parts by 2025 to support its internal supply chain, the company said.