Additive Manufacturing for Jigs, Fixtures

and Other Factory Floor Tools

HOW TO REALIZE AN EXTREME REDUCTION IN TIME AND COST BY
M A K I N G Y O U R C U S T O M T O O L S V I A A D D I T I V E M A N U FA C T U R I N G

The fundamental objectives of manufacturing — improve quality, reduce costs, speed up

throughput and increase production flexibility — are the primary reasons that jigs and

fixtures are so abundant. It doesn’t matter if the operation is fully automated or entirely

manual; jigs and fixtures are deployed throughout manufacturing operations with the

goal of reducing costs while improving production processes.

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Additive Manufacturing for Jigs,
Fixtures and Other Factory Floor Tools
HOW TO REALIZE AN EXTREME REDUCTION IN TIME AND COST BY
M A K I N G Y O U R C U S T O M T O O L S V I A A D D I T I V E M A N U FA C T U R I N G

When expanded beyond jigs and fixtures to periods. But this ignores the larger impact on the

include all manufacturing tools that serve bottom line. AM lowers the threshold for justifying

as operational aids, the uses are even more a new tool, which allows you to address unmet

widespread. They range from organizational bins needs throughout the production process. If you

and tool holders for 5S (a workplace organizational were to look around the manufacturing floor,

methodology) to templates, guides and gauges. assembly area and quality control lab, how many

They include sophisticated robotic end-effectors new opportunities would you find for a jig or

and rudimentary trays, bins and sorters for fixture? What would the value be?

conveyance and transportation. No matter the

• Reduce scrap and rework
name, description or application, manufacturing
• Decrease direct labor time
tools on the factory floor increase operational
• Improve process throughput
efficiency while maintaining quality.
• Improve process control and repeatability

• Reduce strain
Additive manufacturing (AM) generates

opportunities for tools that would not have been • Improve worker experience

feasible using aluminium or another machinable

And with respect to the bottom line, how much
polymer due to high manufacturing costs or the
more profit would the company gain?
heavy weight of the final tool. It is simple and

automated, fast and inexpensive. This allows you

to deploy more jigs and fixtures while optimizing

their performance for the function of the tool.

LOWERING THE BARRIER

By supplementing your current methods of making

jigs and fixtures with AM, you can reduce the cost

and accelerate delivery. In these terms alone, AM

systems are easily justified with short payback According to Thogus’ quality control manager, it is simpler, faster and
less expensive to make its own FDM fixtures than to outsource them to
a machine shop.

Additive Manufacturing for Jigs, Fixtures and Other Factory Floor Tools / 2
Additive Manufacturing for Jigs,
Fixtures and Other Factory Floor Tools
HOW TO REALIZE AN EXTREME REDUCTION IN TIME AND COST BY
M A K I N G Y O U R C U S T O M T O O L S V I A A D D I T I V E M A N U FA C T U R I N G

More importantly, why aren’t jigs or fixtures a great idea and a solution. It does this by

currently being used in these operations if they simplifying the process, lowering the cost and

have value? Most likely, they were not justifiable. decreasing lead time.

Although there is a benefit in having the jig or

fixture, the return on investment (ROI) isn’t large When using fused deposition modeling (FDM®) to

enough to warrant the effort. You may have found make jigs and fixtures, the process has just three

that your time and money were better spent steps: prepare the CAD file, build the tool and

elsewhere. Since there is never enough time in perform any necessary post processing. Unlike

the day or money in the budget to do everything conventional fabrication methods, FDM requires

you would like to do, the decision to build a little experience and minimal direct labor. In many

manufacturing tool puts priority on the: cases, jigs and fixtures are manufactured with only

15 minutes of hands-on labor. More importantly,

• Processes that aren’t possible without a jig or fixture
they are manufactured with little training on
• Most obvious and urgent needs
how the process works and no need for prior
• Largest threats and most likely problems
experience. Combined, this makes FDM an ideal
• Quickest to implement and produce results
“self-serve” option for jigs and fixtures. According
• Easiest to implement to Natalie Williams, quality manager at Thogus
• Safety concerns Products, an injection molder that specializes in

low-volume manufacturing and highly engineered

Deciding when and where to use a jig or fixture is
materials, “It is so much easier for me to model a
made when value outweighs investment or when
fixture and print it myself than it is to design it and
the path has the least resistance.
work through an outside machine shop.”

AM lowers the justification threshold by increasing

your ROI and decreasing the obstacles between

The bottom line: AM lowers the threshold so that

manufacturers can put more jigs and fixtures, with
optimized designs, into service.

Additive Manufacturing for Jigs, Fixtures and Other Factory Floor Tools / 3
Additive Manufacturing for Jigs,
Fixtures and Other Factory Floor Tools
HOW TO REALIZE AN EXTREME REDUCTION IN TIME AND COST BY
M A K I N G Y O U R C U S T O M T O O L S V I A A D D I T I V E M A N U FA C T U R I N G

For Thogus, AM is easy and fast. “For one 12-cavity

CMM fixture the lead time, if outsourced, was

7 to 10 days. I built it overnight,” Williams said.

Manufacturers using FDM to create custom

manufacturing tools often experience lead-time

reduction from 40 to 90 percent.

AM also can increase ROI substantially by reducing

the cost of a jig or fixture. Typically, companies

realize savings of 70 to 90 percent when compared

When machined fixtures were quoted at $12,000 and seven days, to outsourced fixtures that are machined or
Thermal Dynamics opted to make them with FDM to save $10,000 and
several days.
fabricated. Thogus saved 87 percent using AM to

build their 12-cavity fixture. “The machine shop

HOW DOES FDM COMPARE TO
ALTERNATIVE METHODS? wanted $1,500 for the fixture. I made it for less than

$200 in materials,” said Williams.

$10,000 $12,000

$2,040
$616
THOGUS THERMAL
DYNAMICS
$2,550 $420

$176
$525

JOE GIBBS BMW

RACING

Top NASCAR team, Joe Gibbs Racing, uses FDM to make fixtures,
some of which have been in service for more than two years and have
cut lead time and expense by an average of 70 percent.

Lead-time reduction Cost savings

with FDM 40-90% with FDM 70-90%

Additive Manufacturing for Jigs, Fixtures and Other Factory Floor Tools / 4
Additive Manufacturing for Jigs,
Fixtures and Other Factory Floor Tools
HOW TO REALIZE AN EXTREME REDUCTION IN TIME AND COST BY
M A K I N G Y O U R C U S T O M T O O L S V I A A D D I T I V E M A N U FA C T U R I N G

Making the tool fabrication process faster and the next-generation manufacturing tool and have

more affordable, AM will increase the number it in service the next day. Redesigning a tool that

of jigs, fixtures and other manufacturing tools, was once “good enough” requires only a little

which will improve the bottom line. AM can also time, and may only drive out a few seconds from

optimize manufacturing tool performance for an assembly operation, for example, but that time

operational functionality. Before AM, designs that adds up. If the fixture makes 500 items per day
were sufficient to do the job were acceptable for per worker, a two-second savings reduces direct

jigs and fixtures. Due to the expense and effort labor by 70 hours per person per year. For the

to redesign and re-manufacture them, revisions same part, a one-percent reduction in scrap would

were reserved only for those that did not work save 1,250 parts per year. The bottom line: AM

as specified. Although “good enough” may have lowers the threshold so that manufacturers can

added a few seconds to an operation or increased put more jigs and fixtures, with optimized designs,

the scrap rate by a small percentage, the savings into service. This drops more money to your

might not have warranted further investment in company’s bottom line.

the tool. AM changes that thinking. It can deliver

Additive Manufacturing for Jigs, Fixtures and Other Factory Floor Tools / 5
Additive Manufacturing for Jigs,
Fixtures and Other Factory Floor Tools
HOW TO REALIZE AN EXTREME REDUCTION IN TIME AND COST BY
M A K I N G Y O U R C U S T O M T O O L S V I A A D D I T I V E M A N U FA C T U R I N G

metal may be a practical option because of the low

cost and because it is conducive to milling, turning,

bending and fabricating. In this case, AM may be

an option. The range of FDM materials can offer

chemical resistance (petroleum, solvents), thermal

resistance (up to 390 °F/ 200 °C) and resilient

mechanical properties.

Machining traditional materials follows a

By using additive manufacturing to recreate a gripper with internal
vacuum channels, Digital Mechanics eliminated five external hoses that well established methodology around the
hampered operations.
implementation of jigs, fixtures and other factory

floor tools. AM allows the consolidation of some

of these processes and can reduce the timing of

IMPLEMENTING AN
deployment and in often cases reducing cost.
ADDITIVE APPROACH
Before creating your first 3D CAD model and
Plastic manufacturing tools may also deliver some
uploading it to an FDM system, take materials and
unexpected advantages. For example, Thogus
dimensional tolerance into account. While AM is
uses FDM-made robotic attachments that absorb
ideal for many manufacturing tools, it isn’t right for
impact. In the event that the robot arm crashes into
all of them. The main consideration for materials is

Using FDM, BMW prints jigs and fixtures

that would not be possible with conventional
machining and fabrication.

an obstacle, the FDM part is likely to isolate the arm

whether plastic will suffice. Traditionally, jigs and
from damages, which prevents expensive repairs
fixtures have been fabricated in metal. For some,

Additive Manufacturing for Jigs, Fixtures and Other Factory Floor Tools / 6
Additive Manufacturing for Jigs,
Fixtures and Other Factory Floor Tools
HOW TO REALIZE AN EXTREME REDUCTION IN TIME AND COST BY
M A K I N G Y O U R C U S T O M T O O L S V I A A D D I T I V E M A N U FA C T U R I N G

DESIGN
Your current jigs and fixtures were designed with

consideration for the capabilities and limitations

of the fabrication methods used to create them.

By adhering to design for manufacturability

(DFM) rules, you made them practical, kept cost

to a minimum, and made lead times reasonable.

These rules don’t apply the same way to AM. The

additive nature of the process gives you unmatched

freedom of design. What may have been

impractical is now realistic and reasonable. Jigs

Using FDM, BMW prints jigs and fixtures that would not be possible
with conventional machining and fabrication. AM allows them to be
easier to use and more functional. and fixtures can have complex, feature-laden and

freeform configurations. In fact, added complexity

and downtime. In another example, BMW uses may even reduce cost and time. For example,
plastic, hand-held tools because they are lighter pockets, holes and channels reduce material
and easier to handle, reducing worker fatigue. consumption, build time and total

When deciding whether to try AM on some initial

toolmaking projects, for dimensional accuracy, pick

tools requiring tolerances larger than 0.010 inch

(0.254 mm). Tighter tolerances are possible, but as

a rule, stick with this value when keeping the

process simple.

This ergonomic and lighter BMW hand tool reduced worker fatigue.

Additive Manufacturing for Jigs, Fixtures and Other Factory Floor Tools / 7
Additive Manufacturing for Jigs,
Fixtures and Other Factory Floor Tools
HOW TO REALIZE AN EXTREME REDUCTION IN TIME AND COST BY
M A K I N G Y O U R C U S T O M T O O L S V I A A D D I T I V E M A N U FA C T U R I N G

process time. To leverage AM, let the function This is unnecessary with AM. If reproducing

and performance of the jig or fixture dictate the an existing tool, start with a redesign that

design. Follow the lead of companies like Digital consolidates as many components as possible

Mechanics AB and BMW. Digital Mechanics into one piece. If designing a new item, create it as

capitalized on the freedom of design for a one piece. Only split off parts when it is required

vacuum-assisted robotic gripper. Conventionally for the operation of the jig or fixture, such as an

made, the gripper had external hoses hanging adjustment requirement. Integrating parts into a

off it. With AM, each finger of the gripper was single component has many advantages:

given an internal vacuum channel that eliminated

• Eliminate tolerance challenges. Holding tight
the hoses. For BMW, freedom of design allows tolerances is costly. If two mating parts are
combined into one, then all costs and concerns
assembly line workers to have a tool that reaches about controlling the tolerances of the mating parts
are eliminated.
under, behind and inside the rear of the bumper.

Manufacturing engineers focused solely on the • Eliminate assembly time. Assemblies, obviously,
must be assembled. This takes time, especially for
function, which resulted in an organically shaped one-off items like jigs and fixtures, where perfect fits
are not guaranteed.
bumper-reach tool. Design freedoms can also
• Minimize documentation and overhead. The sum of
improve the ergonomics of manufacturing tools. the parts is less than the whole when it comes to
time and cost. Consolidating parts reduces costs
The weight, balance and position of the tool have for actions such as design, documentation, quoting,
ordering and inventory management.
direct effects on technician comfort, process cycle

time and ease of access and storage. To achieve

optimal ergonomics, simply design it into your
MANAGEMENT
tools. For example, BMW redesigned a badge
No longer consider your jigs, fixtures and other
alignment fixture to improve balance and reduce
manufacturing tools as assets. Instead, think of
weight. This reduced worker strain and improved
them as expenses, and disposable. As assets,
the cycle time for badge attachment.
jigs and fixtures are stored (inventoried) between

uses. They remain in inventory until the product

One very simple way to leverage the freedom of
line is retired or they are worn beyond repair.
design is to consolidate assemblies into single
Manufacturing tools made through conventional
parts. Often, jigs and fixtures are composed of
methods, however, are too valuable to be
many pieces due to geometric complexity.
discarded as a disposable, expensable item due

Additive Manufacturing for Jigs, Fixtures and Other Factory Floor Tools / 8
Additive Manufacturing for Jigs,
Fixtures and Other Factory Floor Tools
HOW TO REALIZE AN EXTREME REDUCTION IN TIME AND COST BY
M A K I N G Y O U R C U S T O M T O O L S V I A A D D I T I V E M A N U FA C T U R I N G

to the time, cost and effort required to create them. This approach carries many indirect costs, however. There

is cost for the shelf space (warehousing expense); cost to manage and track the inventory; and cost to locate

a jig or fixture when needed. For sporadically used tools, these costs can be quite significant.

The opposite can be true with AM. Often, it takes more to inventory the jigs and fixtures than it does to re-

make them. So, companies adopt a management approach called digital warehousing where only the digital

file is carried in inventory. It may seem unthinkable to scrap a perfectly good manufacturing tool, but for those

with infrequent use, this approach reduces cost and labor.

Make a fixture when it’s needed. When its job is done, send it off with the scrap material for recycling.

Then digitally warehouse its design between uses. This print-on-demand approach is also handy when a

replacement is needed for a broken manufacturing tool or duplicates are needed for increased production to

meet an unexpected surge in sales.

Additive Manufacturing for Jigs, Fixtures and Other Factory Floor Tools / 9
CONCLUSION
AM can lead to big changes that maximize profits

by driving out every wasted second and penny

from the manufacturing process. For those who

aren’t ready to toss out long-established design

guidelines, simply replace the usual fabrication

processes with AM. Either way, the savings on

the manufacturing floor and in jig and fixture

production will be substantial.

If you have a 3D CAD drawing and access to a

AM, you are ready to start making manufacturing

tools with as little as 15 minutes of hands-on

labor. Combine the simplicity with typical time and

cost reductions of 40 to 90 percent, and you will

understand why AM spurs companies to make

more jigs, fixtures and other manufacturing tools

than ever before.

Additive Manufacturing for Jigs, Fixtures and Other Factory Floor Tools / 10
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