From 3D-Printed Fixtures to a Connected Production Workflow
A 3D printer can make a jig or fixture. Getting that tool through engineering, production and into the operation it supports is a different challenge.
Kuttler Machine’s experience offers a useful starting point. The machine shop bought a large 3D printer to expand its additive manufacturing work, then sought support to help its people move from traditional equipment to additive processes. The case mentions training in AM for fixtures, jigs and tooling, alongside assistance with holding fixtures for CNC projects.
The account, published by NIST’s Manufacturing Extension Partnership, focuses on training and technical support. It highlights a familiar step in adopting a new manufacturing capability: once the equipment arrives, teams need the skills and processes to put it to work.
For manufacturers using AM to make production tooling, there is another question to answer: how will the work be managed alongside everything else moving through the shop?
A printed fixture still has a production workflow
Consider a CNC team that needs a holding fixture for an upcoming job. The request may start with an engineer or machinist, move through design and review, then be scheduled for printing. Once made, the fixture may need checking before it reaches the CNC operation.
The details will vary by application. The team may need to know who owns the request, which job the fixture supports, where it sits in the schedule, whether it is ready for use and what happens if the design or production plan changes.
When those details live across messages, spreadsheets and informal conversations, people can end up chasing updates or working from different versions of the plan. The printer may have completed its job, but the rest of the team still needs to know what happens next.
That is the workflow challenge: coordinating the request, the people, the equipment and the production handoff around the printed tool.
Make the handoffs visible
A useful workflow gives each step an owner and makes progress visible to the people who depend on it. For a printed fixture, that might mean connecting the request to the relevant production job, planning when the fixture will be made, recording its progress and showing when it is ready for the next operation.
The aim is not to add administration to a simple job. It is to make sure the information needed to act is available where the work happens. If a priority changes or a fixture needs another review, the people affected should be able to see the change and respond.
The right level of control depends on the tool and the operation. Engineering teams remain responsible for deciding whether a design, material and process are suitable for the intended use. Workflow software helps coordinate the work around those decisions.
Where Authentise Flows can help
Authentise Flows helps teams plan, manage, execute and track engineering and manufacturing operations. For a manufacturer using AM to support CNC or other production work, Flows can provide a structured way to coordinate the steps around that work and see how it is progressing.
That could help teams connect a tooling request to the people responsible, plan the work, and make progress and handoffs to the next operation clearer. The value is not in deciding how a fixture should be designed. It is in helping the team manage the workflow that takes an approved job through production.
Kuttler’s story is about building AM capability with training and practical support. For other manufacturers, the next challenge may be making sure AM jobs fit into the wider production process. When a printed fixture is supporting a CNC operation, the print is only one part of the job.
Bringing AM tooling into the wider process
3D-printed jigs and fixtures can be useful additions to a machine shop’s toolkit. As teams use them in more production work, clear ownership, scheduling and handoffs become part of making that capability work day to day.
If your team is adding AM to an existing manufacturing workflow, Authentise Flows can help coordinate work across engineering and production. Explore Flows to see how it could fit your operation.
