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March 21, 2022
A jig or fixture is simply a device or part that is used to assist or guide a manufacturing process. Examples of this can be keeping parts aligned while joining, aligning holes to be drilled, holding a part in position for an operator to perform a specific task, orienting a logo, etc.
Jigs and fixtures have been around since the beginning of human production systems and assist in processes where machinery or labor alone is not sufficient. In the past they used to be created by hand or with conventional techniques.
These objects are used to help manufacture all types of products and are often quite critical to the operation in which they are involved. Any error in a jig or fixture could result in a large number of incorrectly manufactured products.
On the other hand, not using such a tool or accessory would definitely result in a great loss of time, impossibility to perform certain processes or the creation of products with large margins of error between them.
Due to their intervention in the manufacturing process, these tools must be able to withstand thousands and thousands of cycles of use and, depending on the case, other conditions such as: extreme heat or cold, radiation, vibration, chemicals or specific environments.
Products produced in a manufacturing operation can use any type of process, environment or sequence and therefore in many cases the jigs and fixtures used are subject to the same conditions.
As they are not part of the final product, changes can be made to these parts as the manufacturing process is optimized or if the manufacturing method changes.
Shorter production and development cycles
3D printing enables rapid manufacturing of parts and prototypes as well as their subsequent iteration and continuous improvement. Allowing development to progress on the fly. The ability to create and test jig designs quickly shortens production lead times by weeks keeping production moving steadily.
Reducing time, money and materials
Unlike other production processes, 3D printing generates parts almost analogous to CAD from the design file with almost no waste of materials and without requiring large intermediaries in the production process (unlike other technologies that require combining different production methods and materials to reach the final result), thus guaranteeing shorter times and lower costs.
The low costs and speed of printing technologies compared to other technologies such as CNC or plastic injection guarantee short downtimes.
Workflow and human resources improvement.
Printing is a technology that presents a simpler learning curve when compared to more complex production methods making its implementation faster. The adoption of this technology within companies can be done with a reduced staff and an initial investment that is much lower.
Improvement of processes and results
3D printing makes it possible to produce complex objects with great ease, which eliminates many of the normal restrictions of jigs and fixtures.
This allows the production of parts that normal machines cannot achieve, providing a wide range of possible benefits, from lighter parts or customized sectors as well as the addition of new features and fine details.
For these reasons, the process of creating the jigs or fixtures requires very careful consideration in terms of design and performance.
3D printing brings together a set of technologies that offer new methods to produce precise and high quality parts to assist in production.
In addition to this technology enables new design strategies to create optimized parts to replace machine parts, improve worker safety while streamlining production workflows and saving a great deal of time and money.
