Accurate and reliable jigs and fixtures are critical for precise product assembly and inspection. Components require bespoke designs to ensure the highest levels of consistency and quality in the products. This often leads to manufacturers producing jigs and fixtures in-house on their manufacturing machines which consumes valuable production time.
By 3D printing jigs and fixtures, manufacturers can unlock valuable machine capacity on the shop floor. Printing jigs off-line ensures continuous production while delivering high-quality, fast-turnaround inspection tools, resulting in up to 80% savings in both time and cost for manufacturers.
3D printing capabilities can produce intricate internal features, complex support structures, and innovative mechanisms to optimise the inspection process, enhance production efficiency, and improve part quality. Operating both traditional manufacturing machines whilst 3D printing jigs and fixtures off-line simultaneously maximises machine utilisation, translating to increased output and profitability.
Why 3D print jigs & fixtures?
Increase design capabilities
Traditional manufacturing methods constrain the design capabilities when producing jigs and fixtures. 3D printing enables the creation of highly customised and complex jigs and fixtures that precisely align with specific needs of the components for their assembly, fittings and inspection.
Increase existing machine capacity
Valuable shopfloor capacity is often restricted by the production of jigs and fixtures. This internal bottleneck limits resources and machine uptime producing profitable products. By moving the production of jigs and fixtures to a 3D printer, manufacturers can operate both processes simultaneously, unlocking and maximising existing machining capacity.
Streamline production processes
Traditional production processes are often delayed and elongated by the reliance on outsourcing or large scale shopfloor production. 3D printing jigs and fixtures saves manufacturers up to 80% of production time and costs, providing in-house, on-demand capabilities.
