Aerospace production doesn’t leave much room for error. Every jig, fixture, and tool on the floor has to meet the same standard as the parts it helps produce. Traditionally, that has meant slow, expensive tooling cycles through outside machine shops. Airbus, however, took a different approach: bringing 3D printed jigs and fixtures in-house.
Key Takeaways
- Airbus uses UltiMaker 3D printers and Cura software to produce tools, jigs, and fixtures at its European manufacturing facilities.
- It also prints lightweight design parts from composite materials.
- Printed tooling delivers part-to-part consistency, lower weight, and same-day design iteration.
- The same pattern applies across aerospace and defense: jigs, fixtures, inspection gauges, and assembly aids made on-site.
What Is Airbus Using 3D Printing For?
Airbus uses UltiMaker 3D printers and Cura software to locally produce tools, jigs, and fixtures at its European manufacturing facilities, along with lightweight design parts made from composite materials. As a result, engineers don’t route every tooling need through traditional manufacturing. Instead, they design, print, and deploy what they need directly on the floor.
Why 3D Printed Jigs and Fixtures Fit Aerospace Manufacturing
A few things make this approach a particularly strong fit for aerospace production environments:
- Consistency and repeatability. Jigs, fixtures, and tooling used in aerospace production need to produce the same result every time. Printed tools offer that consistency without the lead time of machining a new one from scratch.
- Weight matters everywhere in aerospace. Composite materials let engineers produce lightweight parts that hold up to production demands without adding mass. In most other sectors, that consideration doesn’t carry the same weight (literally).
- In-house iteration speed. When a jig needs a design tweak, an added handle, or a modified fit, the change can go from CAD to printed part the same day. In contrast, an external vendor’s queue can take weeks.
3D Printed Jigs and Fixtures Across Aerospace and Defense
This isn’t unique to Airbus. In fact, across aerospace and defense manufacturing, the same tooling categories keep showing up: custom jigs and fixtures, inspection gauges, assembly aids, and on-demand replacement tooling. All of them can be made on-site. Moreover, each one can be improved the moment feedback from the floor identifies a problem. Similarly, defense maintenance teams follow the same model; see how defense teams are using 3D printing in the field.
Where Dynamism Fits
As an authorized reseller, Dynamism helps aerospace and defense manufacturers identify the right printer and materials for production-floor tooling, from the S-series platform used in examples like this to the higher-throughput Factor line for continuous production. For programs with data-security requirements, the UltiMaker Secure line adds air-gapped, USB-only operation.
Related reading: What NIST 800-171 means for your 3D printing setup | How UltiMaker 3D printers reached Navy and Marine bases
Curious what this could look like on your floor? Explore the UltiMaker Secure line → | Talk to a specialist →
Frequently Asked Questions
Airbus uses UltiMaker 3D printers and Cura software to locally produce tools, jigs, and fixtures, along with lightweight composite parts, at its European manufacturing facilities.
They require part-to-part consistency and often need frequent design iteration, both of which 3D printing supports without the lead time of external machining.
Composite materials used in aerospace-grade 3D printing are selected to balance strength with reduced weight, an important factor given how directly weight affects aerospace production and performance.
Applications range from desktop-class systems like the UltiMaker S-series for smaller jigs and fixtures to higher-throughput industrial platforms like the Factor line for continuous production environments.
Source: UltiMaker, “3D Printing Solutions for Military and Defense Applications” whitepaper.
