CREAT3D Case Study
BESPOKE 3D PRINTED SOLUTIONS IN MANUFACTURING
"3D printing is transforming what we’re doing and how we’re thinking. The team can afford to make mistakes with the 3D printer, but mistakes are harder to resolve when fabrication is outsourced.
Every time there’s a free period on the printer, stock parts are printed."
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Emily Swinburne, Mechanical Design Engineer, Mecmesin
> ABOUT MECMESIN
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Mecmesin, established in 1977, specialise in the design and manufacture of force and torque testing solutions producing affordable and easy-to-use products that enable small and large businesses alike to undertake quality control checks on their products without compromising on precision.
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Based in Slinfold, West Sussex, Mecmesin also has international reach with subsidiary companies in France, Germany, the USA, China and Thailand as well as a strong distribution network that now operates in more than 50 countries.
> SOLUTION
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Mecmesin have been building their suite of 3D printers and now run a range of Additive Manufacturing technologies including Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF technology), Stereolithography (SLA technology) and Composite Fibre Fabrication (CFF technology), all housed within their Systems and
Development departments.
> CHALLENGE
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In addition to their standard product range, Mecmesin design bespoke products and accessories for specific customer applications. With a large number of clients spanning a wide breadth of industries, Mecmesin needed to find a way to produce products with exacting requirements, whilst keeping product development, manufacturing and end customer costs as low as possible.
> RESULTS
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“Each printer has led to another printer” Brian Howes, Mechanical Design Engineer
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> Achieving 200% predicted monthly cost savings
> Printing stock parts, greatly reducing lead times and costs
> Greater design freedom
> Control over part availability
> Reduction in reliance on external suppliers
> Up to 98.8% shorter lead times, from weeks to days
> Up to 96% lower costs, which feed to the end customer
> BENEFITS FROM ADDITIVE
> Huge Savings, Exceeding Predictions
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With the introduction of the latest Markforged additive manufacturing equipment, Mecmesin set a savings target of £1,000 per month to prove to their Purchasing Department that the value of adding the machine, would be paid back within a year. To date they are able to save on average £2,000 per month, and that’s excluding any savings made by 3D printing parts for stock.
This change to using the machines for producing stock parts has seen one of the biggest lead time and price reductions for Mecmesin.
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> Drastic Reduction In Lead Times
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Lead times from design, to having that same part in front of you, are drastically reducing. To outsource a custom Top Cross-Head would typically cost £300, on a 3-week lead time from ordering. The same part is now 3D printed on the Markforged Mark Two in Onyx in just 2 days, at a cost of £125. For this single part alone, Mecmesin see a 90.4% reduction in lead time and a 58% in cost savings.
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> 3D Printing Generates New Business Opportunities
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Mecmesin have also been able to complete new business for international clients, that would not have been possible without the use of their 3D printers. An American client was looking for a bespoke Camera Focus Ring Torque Fixture and it was essential to confirm dimensions prior to development which required an accurate prototype. To machine this part would have cost thousands, which would have made the job unjustifiable. However, Mecmesin were able to generate the desired prototype for just £15 in material costs, winning the business.
“One of the biggest gains is having freedom of
design, allowing more imagination without the risk."
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Emily Swinburne, Mechanical Design Engineer
BATCH OF 78 NUTPLATES
TRADITIONAL FABRICATION
Unit cost of £2.98
3D PRINTING
Unit cost of £0.11
COST SAVING
96% cost saving
TIME SAVING
Lead time reduction from 5 weeks to 12 hours (98.5%).
“We had initially purchased the Markforged printer with our bespoke fixturing in mind as most pieces are oneoff runs which are always an expensive manufacture. After just a few weeks we realised the wider functionality of the machine and started to run low volume standard stock parts."
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Emily Swinburne, Mechanical Design Engineer, Mecmesin
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