Tailored welded blanks (TWB) are shaped sheets which are manufactured by welding various grades and/or thicknesses of steel together to form a blank. These blanks are then going to final stamping by carmakers for various parts, for instance, inner door panels or engine compartment.The aim behind the development of tailor welded blanks was to reduce vehicle weight.

In the past, a car body part was made of a specific steel grade and thickness, but now with TWBs, it is easy to achieve better performance by using steel with the required properties and gauges only where it is needed. The remaining part of the component can be made from cheaper steel.

Tailored welded blanks can help to reduce the component weight as well as the number of parts. This also results in reducing the cost of production.

Having said that, the cost savings by using less steel is offset by the higher costs of producing a tailor welded blank, as it is much cheaper to use a normal plain blanked sheet. In addition to that tailored welded blanks are not suitable for visible parts in the car body due to its surface finishing, which requires additional costs for final finishing.