Trains, subways and other forms of rail transportation rely on pneumatics for everything from door operation to braking systems. Brake control panels (essentially manifolds with various air connections) have been conventionally assembled from multiple machined metal parts, a manufacturing process that leads to extra weight and material, more potential fail points and connections, and difficulty in changing and customizing designs. At Wabtec’s Neighborhood 91 AM production facility, the company is solving these challenges with brake panels designed digitally and 3D printed through laser powder bed fusion.