Improve Efficiency With 3D Printed Manufacturing Aids
3D printed manufacturing aids, such as custom jigs, fixtures, tools, and replacement parts on the shop and factory floors, are vital tools for addressing common problems that arise during manufacturing. Bring 3D printing in-house to improve the efficiency of your manufacturing process, reduce costs, shorten lead times, and enhance production quality.
Why Go Digital?
Lower Costs
Faster Turnaround Time
Flexible Manufacturing
Design Freedom
Precision and Repeatability
Lightweight and Ergonomic
Leverage 3D Printed Tools at Every Manufacturing Step
Metalworking Operations
Bring manufacturing flexibility in-house and produce robust and precise tools that withstand demanding environments such as welding or machining. 3D printing introduces a new level of efficiency to metalworking by cutting costs, reducing lead times, and allowing for rapid customization of jigs and fixtures.
See Also
Reduce Costs and Lead Times in Metalworking With On-Demand Jigs and Fixtures
How Brose Leverages SLA and SLS Technology to Bolster Automotive Production
Tooling and Replacement Parts
Manufacture custom tooling within 24 hours and reduce machine downtime by producing on-demand replacement parts in-house. 3D printed polymer parts offer almost unlimited design freedom, light weight, a wide range of material options, and durability to stand in or even replace metal parts in many applications.
See Also
Printing Presses, Empowered by 3D Printing: Robotics Applications and Replacement Parts at HEIDELBERG
Problem Solving on the Factory Floor: Manufacturing Aids at Productive Plastics
How Rosenberger Optimizes Traditional Manufacturing and Lead Times With 3D Printed Tooling and End-Use Parts
3D Scanning and 3D Printing for Reverse Engineering and Other Applications
Assembly and Inspection
Improve manufacturing efficiency with custom assembly and alignment jigs, component trays, testing fixtures and rigs, and more. From flexible to ESD-safe, 3D printing offers a material for any solution.
See Also
Controlling the Automotive Supply Chain: 3D Printing at Jasper Engines & Transmissions
SLS 3D Printed Tools Help Digitalize Oil Pipeline Operations and Maintenance
3D Printing Fast and Cost-Effective Manufacturing Tools for Watchmaking
Finishing and Masking
3D printing presents a cost-effective means of creating customized masking parts that can fit complex geometries and be used repeatedly, reducing the need for hours of manual labor during post-production workflows.
See Also
How Deutsche Bahn Uses 3D Printed Manufacturing Aids to Streamline Vehicle Maintenance
How Figure Engineering Developed an Advanced SLA Material for the Department of Defense
Powerful and Versatile 3D Printing Solutions to Streamline Tooling Processes
Form 4
Precise, smooth, and ergonomic tools with fine details
Wide range of material properties
Fast and easy for low-volumes
Accessible entry price points
Form 4L
Mid to large-size parts
Precise, smooth, and ergonomic tools with fine details
Wide range of material properties
Fast and easy for mid and high-volumes
Fuse 1+ 30W
Strong, durable, and heavy-duty tools
Chemical-resistant and environmentally stable tools
Lightweight tools with complex design
Cost-efficient for large volumes
Save Time and Money
Your printer pays for itself in a matter of weeks or months, accelerating the pace of work along the way.
Production Machine Replacement Part
Productive Plastics, Thermoforming Manufacturer
Read the Case StudyFabrication Outsourced from OEM In-house 3D printing with Fuse Series, Nylon 12 Powder Cost due to downtime $30,000 $1,000 Time 6-8 weeks 1 day 
CNC Router Alignment Pins
Ashley Furniture, Furniture Manufacturer
Read the Case StudyFabrication Outsourced to service provider In-house 3D printing with Form Series, Durable Resin Cost $10 (1,200 part MOQ) $5,92 (No MOQ) Time 3-4 weeks 1 day 
Welding Fixture
Red Oak Fabrication, Metal Shop
Read the Case StudyFabrication Metal CNC machined in-house In-house 3D printing with Form Series, Rigid 10K Resin Cost $1,000 $100 Time Months Days 
Robot End-of-Arm Tooling
MPM, Etienne Lacroix Group, Pyrotechnics Supplier
Fabrication Outsourced to service provider In-house 3D printing with Fuse Series, Nylon 12 Powder Cost per year €10,560 €32 Time 3 weeks 1 day 
CNC Turning Collet Pads
The Factory Amsterdam, Metal Shop
Read the Case StudyFabrication Metal CNC machined outsourced In-house 3D printing with Fuse Series, Nylon 12 Powder Cost $150 $7 Time 3-4 weeks 1 day 
Curious to see how much you can save? Try our interactive ROI tool to calculate cost per part and lead time when 3D printing on Formlabs 3D printers.
Cut Tool-Making to 24 hours
Stop waiting weeks for tools to arrive from a service provider or for your CNC machine to free up. With in-house 3D printing, you can create custom jigs and fixtures within a day, run tests, tweak your design, and print again.
3D Print
Post-Process
Test and Integrate
Read the Story
“We can run some of the CNC machines downstairs, but they're rarely available, and programming a CNC machine for an advanced job in Mastercam, or just trying to do it on the controller itself, can take hours. Starting up a job with Formlabs PreForm software takes 10 minutes, and it's really simple.”
Read the Story“When it comes to assembly processes, everything is bespoke, it's just not something you can often buy off the shelf. So having a highly flexible manufacturing option in-house is invaluable.”
Read the Story“Whether it’s saving tens of thousands of dollars on battery cases or 3D printing a replacement gear for an old machine that we couldn’t find replacement parts for, 3D printing helps us keep production going.”
Read the Story“Additive manufacturing is here to stay. It makes complex geometries possible that could never be achieved with conventional machines and it makes it possible to simply manufacture and reproduce tools without incurring high additional costs. Once a tool or part has been digitized, it can be printed anywhere in the world.”
Read the Story“The new Formlabs 4L allows us to print large parts fast. For example, we use Form 4L to print setup parts for our weld cell in just hours instead of overnight. This allows the Brose welding experts to program the robot prior to the metal stamping components arriving. With the new Fast Model Resin, we receive the detail required and the rigidity needed in a faster time than ever before.”
Read the Story“With 3D printing, it's obviously easy to replace [parts], but we were surprised of the longevity; some of these parts were getting three times what we originally expected, nearly nine months before they required a replacement."
Read the Story“One application that many people may not yet see in the future of 3D printing is the use of 3D printed tooling as consumables in production, like we do."
Get Started 3D Printing for Manufacturing Aids
Contact a Formlabs Solution Specialist to get started with manufacturing aids production powered by 3D printing.
