Maximising Production Efficiency With 3D Printed Tools, Jigs, and Fixtures: Volkswagen Autoeuropa Case Study

Volkswagen Autoeuropa produces over 100,000 cars per year at its factory in Portugal. Every vehicle on the assembly line needs custom tools, jigs, and fixtures. For years, all of those came from external suppliers. It was slow, expensive, and made iteration close to impossible. This case study shows how 3D printing in manufacturing changed their entire workflow.

UltiMaker reports the factory cut tool development costs by 91% and lead times by 95% after switching to in-house 3D printed jigs and fixtures. Here is how they did it, and what it means for manufacturers in Australia.

The Problem: Outsourced Tooling Was Slow and Expensive

Before adopting 3D printing for manufacturing, Volkswagen Autoeuropa sourced all its jigs, fixtures, and assembly aids from outside suppliers. Lead times stretched to weeks. If a design needed changes, the revision cycle started over. More time. More cost.

At this production volume, waiting weeks for a single tool is a real bottleneck. New manufacturing aids need a trial-and-error approach. You test a tool on the line, get feedback from operators, then refine the design. With outside suppliers, only a few ideas ever got built in time. Most improvements stayed on the whiteboard.

The Solution: In-House 3D Printing With UltiMaker

Volkswagen Autoeuropa tested the concept in 2014 with a single printer and scaled from there. UltiMaker reports the factory now runs seven UltiMaker printers and produces 93% of all previously outsourced tools in-house. In the video above, Luis Pascoa confirms the team produced over 1,000 different parts in a single year.

The workflow changed completely. For simple projects, Miguel José notes in the video that going from idea to prototype now takes 1 to 1.5 hours. Engineers design a tool in CAD, print it overnight for larger parts, and have operators test it on the assembly line the next morning. Feedback goes straight back into the next design iteration. A tool that used to take weeks to source now goes from idea to production-ready in days.

As Luis Pascoa, Pilot Plant Manager at Volkswagen Autoeuropa, explains:

"Just by printing a handful of tools we can get back the initial investment."

The Results: Hard Numbers

UltiMaker's published case study includes specific before-and-after figures for three 3D printed jigs and fixtures:

• Wheel protection jig. Previously sourced externally for €800 per unit. Now 3D printed for €21. Development time dropped from 56 days to 10 days.

• Liftgate badge positioning tool. External cost was €400 per unit with a 35-day development cycle. Now printed for €10 in 4 days.

• Window gauge. Was €180 per part with an 8-day lead time. Now €35 per part in 6 days.

Across the facility, UltiMaker reports savings of €150,000 in 2016. By the end of 2017, Miguel José, Process Engineer at Volkswagen Autoeuropa, confirmed savings had exceeded projections and reached €325,000. The initial investment in UltiMaker printers was paid back within two months.

"If you compared to conventional issues, when we needed a new tool, jig, or gauge we save around 90% in cost reduction and 90% in delivery time to the project. Our prospect is to save €250,000 every year ... when regarding return on investment, we had the ROI paid off in 2 months." says Luis Pascoa.

Beyond cost and speed, UltiMaker notes the 3D printed tools are more ergonomic. Operators give direct feedback on tool design, and changes go into the next print run. There is also a maintenance advantage: Miguel José, Process Assembly at Volkswagen Autoeuropa, explains in the video that when a gauge element gets damaged, the team now replaces only the broken part rather than scrapping the whole tool. Volkswagen considers these 3D printed manufacturing aids best practice across the group.

What This Means for Australian Manufacturers

You do not need to be Volkswagen to see these results. Any manufacturer outsourcing tooling, jigs, or fixtures faces the same pain points: long lead times, high per-unit costs, and slow iteration. Rapid manufacturing with 3D printing solves all three.

The printers Volkswagen used were earlier UltiMaker models. The current range is more capable. The UltiMaker S8 ($18,975 AUD) handles the same applications with improved reliability and a wider material range. For heavier production demands, the UltiMaker Factor 4 ($49,450 AUD) adds a climate-controlled build chamber and industrial-grade repeatability.

If your team is still outsourcing jigs, fixtures, or assembly tools, the maths is simple. A single UltiMaker printer producing a handful of tools per month pays for itself in months, the same way it did for Volkswagen.

Want to see how additive manufacturing fits your production line? Request a quote or explore our 3D printer cost guide for Australia for full pricing across every tier.

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3D Printer 3D Printers additive manufacturing End parts printing Manufacturing rapid manufacturing UltiMaker Ultimaker Cura Ultimaker s6 ultimaker s8 Volkswagen