It has been almost ten years since Todd Grimm stood up on stage at TCT Show and encouraged us all to ‘embrace the mundane.’ Gesturing towards manufacturing aids like jigs and fixtures, and tooling, his call went against the grain of the 3D printing projects that were otherwise filling up keynotes in the hazy days of 2014.
Embrace it, people did. Cutting guides and work holding devices might seem ‘boring’ but their impact has been far from it for large companies like Volkswagen, L’Oreal, and Heineken, which have reportedly saved substantial time and money over the last decade by printing these often-overlooked applications. But are they overlooked or did the boring just become, well, normal?
Industry consultant Kevin Ayers believes tooling to be one of AM's most neglected applications. Instead, he thinks these parts should represent around a third of the technology’s applications by volume. According to the 2023 Wohlers Report, jigs and fixtures made up just 7.4% of AM applications worldwide, while end-use parts counted for just over 30%. That’s great news for the march towards production applications but it also means there is likely a lot of low hanging fruit that just isn’t being picked.
“While we have made tremendous progress towards printing [tooling, jigs and fixtures], I still see a huge opportunity,” Luis Rodriguez, Application Engineer, UltiMaker told TCT. “I say that because I help companies, daily, discover that 3D printing is a viable alternative to traditional manufacturing.”
Those companies include the likes of IME Automation, North American Lighting and ERIKS, which have each used UltiMaker's desktop polymer systems to rapidly produce components like packaging jigs, nesting blocks and welding jigs. It was also UltiMaker machines that allowed Volkswagen Autoeuropa to achieve 98% cost and 89% time savings by bringing its tooling, jigs and fixtures production in-house. Though, Rodriguez says some companies face a key hurdle: they simply don’t know where to start.
“If a company doesn’t commit a person to focus on this a few hours a week then adoption will never happen,” Rodriguez explained. “UltiMaker tries to make this easier by creating an ecosystem of hardware, software, materials, and services that just work. We don't want engineers to waste time tweaking, we want engineers saving time and making money with our printers.”
One of the biggest barriers to AM adoption in general is often application discovery. Fundamental learnings from low-risk applications like jigs, fixtures and tooling - additive design consideration, limitations, for example - can, theoretically, be used to influence further adoption in other areas across a business.
“When we assist companies with site scans, we focus on high-gain, low-complexity applications first, leaving high complexity or low gain applications for last,” Rodriguez said. “These are indeed low hanging fruit because they have a big impact in a short amount of time. Why is this?The geometry is simpler, easier to design. The environment they operate in doesn’t expose them to high-temperatures, chemicals, or cleaners. This means we can use standard or engineering grade materials that are easy to print. This allows any company to prove out the technology, gaining confidence to tackle additional areas like spare parts for MRO storerooms/ tool rooms or parts within end-use products can even be re-designed in CAD to not only replace but update and improve their function.”
Get your FREE print subscription to TCT Magazine.
Exhibit at the UK's definitive and most influential 3D printing and additive manufacturing event, TCT 3Sixty.
UltiMaker
IME Automation's 3D printed pneumatic end effectors, packaging jig and tray
Florian Reichle, Commercial Managing Director at trickle3D, a Berlin-based developer of software solutions for additive manufacturing, agrees.
“We've noticed a clear trend. Once a company discovers a successful 3D printing application, they quickly realise broader potential for 3D printing in their operations, leading to a 'why didn't I think of this before?' moment,” Reichle told TCT. “FDM 3D printers are getting cheaper and easier to use every day, so it’s easy for the newcomer to achieve ROI from day one.”
The main challenge, Reichle believes, lies in the design. To that end, the company has developed software tools that enable users to design their own components. Its fixturemate tool, for example, simplifies the design process for users, including those with limited CAD skills, allowing them to create custom fixtures in under 20 minutes. The technology has been adopted by several players in automotive and transport; Ford Motors has automated its design process, taking design time down from 2-4 hours to 10 minutes. This represents a 95% effort reduction and enables those without CAD expertise to design tools independently. Similarly, Audi, which was already using 3D printing for fixture production, has reportedly been able to design a greater number of fixture designs for the rollout of a new performance Electric Vehicle, cutting design time for tools by 80%.
"You could say 3D printed fixtures, jigs, and other tooling are the 'killer app' of 3D printing,” Reichle said. “Process simplification and accurate machining are some of the qualities maintained by jigs, fixtures and other tools, and these qualities are always in demand.
“The benefits are clear: Compared to traditional manufacturing, lead times are shorter, and there’s more control over the entire process, leading to better productivity. It also enables production staff to refine the tools they use, improving aspects such as ergonomics.”
Similarly, Heineken, which trialled Ultimaker S5 printers in its Seville plant for a year, was able to reduce costs by 70- 90%, and decrease its delivery time by 70- 90% by designing and replacing old parts with new optimised designs. Meanwhile, UltiMaker’s Method X and Method XL 3D printers have been used by IME Automation to produce numerous parts for its systems, including jigs, fixtures, and end of arm tooling. With UltiMaker's recently launched Factor 4 system, the company is choosing to focus on light industrial applications, in which the company includes manufacturing tool and bridge parts for production operations.
“Every single application has a return on investment calculation,” Rodriguez said. “For 3D printed applications we analyse lead time and cost. How fast can we print this part and how much does it cost to produce? When pitted against traditional manufacturing, ordering lead times, and minimum order quantities, 3D printing applications every time, especially with low quantities. We say that with an UltiMaker on your production floor, you have your own in-house production. You are ordering from yourself, getting a jig, fixture, spare part in hours vs weeks and for a fraction of the cost.”
UltiMaker
ERIKS' welding jig
The hopeful end game of any generally hyped-up technology is that it gets to a point where it’s so widely accepted, it’s simply not worth talking about anymore. The word is out, and these applications are evidently being implemented by brands big and small, but any noise or excitement from the industry still seems to favour those applications in end-use parts and serial production. The AM industry talks a lot about maturity, and maybe jigs, fixtures and tooling have reached it. But if AM overall is still only scratching the surface of possibility, and jigs and fixtures currently represent just a small fraction of that adoption picture, new users may risk missing out on key low-risk, high-value opportunities that could then set further applications in motion.
“We often say that complexity is free, but that doesn’t mean it has to be complicated,” Rodriguez concluded. “While there is a time and a place for finite element analysis, topology optimisation, or generative design, the simplest of brackets can have a tremendous impact for any production environment. Every company, no matter the size or budget cannot afford to have anything in the production line down.”
Reichle added: “Any company focused on success aims to enhance efficiency and cost-effectiveness, and adopting 3D printing for production tooling offers an easy implementation with immediate cost savings. While it might appear that these applications have faded from regular discussion, they remain a hot topic among enthusiasts and experts.”
