Why produce manufacturing tools with FORTUS 3D Production Systems?
Manufacturing tools, such as jigs, fixtures, drill guides, and check gauges can be quickly and cost-effectively produced with Fortus additive fabrication systems — a process called direct digital manufacturing or rapid manufacturing. This process eliminates machining or tooling, shaving months of time and tens of thousands of dollars per component.
Reduce Time
- No waiting for machining or tooling
- Just in time manufacturing - Components can be made on demand reducing inventory requirements
- Bring production of jigs, fixtures, and tooling masters in-house
Reduce Cost
- Eliminate or reduce machining and tooling costs
Customers realize ROI after just a few jobs by eliminating the need for tooling - No cost-penalty for manufacturing complex geometries
Other Benefits
- Design complex geometries with no tooling constraints
- On-the-fly design changes and enhancements can be made during production cycles
When does it make sense to produce manufacturing tools with FORTUS 3D Production Systems?
- Low production volume
- Complex part design
- Near-term design changes are possible
- High start-up investment is needed
- Need for production to begin before tooling is ready (bridge tooling or bridge-to-manufacturing)
How is this possible?
The FDM process is simple, safe, and it manufactures production-grade thermoplastic tools that can withstand the production floor environment.
- Pre-Process - Load the part’s STL file (CAD data) into Insight pre-processing software.
- Manufacture Parts - System builds part in thermoplastic material one layer at a time on precise tool paths.
- Remove Supports - Remove temporary support structures in a hands-free soluble support tank.
Fortus Customers who save money by producing manufacturing tools with their FORTUS 3D Production System.
Intended as prototype, Digital Mechanics provides Fortus-produced robotic gripper to client through direct digital manufacturing.
Design firm, Digital Mechanics, created a gripping/lifting device that was manufactured using a Fortus system. The part would have been time and cost prohibitive with conventional methods. This not only saved months of time, it also added a distinctive point of competitive differentiation and an important revenue stream.
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BMW produces jigs and fixtures in hours, not weeks and reduces part weight by 72%.
BMW speeds production by creating fabrication and assembly tools via direct digital manufacturing. No outsourced machining means the tools are produced in hours, not weeks. With an average automaker using over 400 assembly tools per vehicle, the money and time-savings potential is enormous.
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Diebold cuts assembly and machining fixture time by 25% and reduces costs by 50%.
Already a fan of Fortus 3D Production Systems for component production, Diebold put its FDM machine to work producing fixtures for its ATMs, electronic security and voting systems for a fraction of the time and cost of traditional machining. Product release is sped up and fixtures are produced to an accuracy of 0.0005 inch.
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