According to Frank Marangell, president of USA at BigRep GmbH,

A huge opportunity for growth is in manufacturing tooling. Even so, only a fraction of manufacturers are using additive manufacturing to help them make better parts through jigs and fixtures, special custom trays, or even safety guides.

But it’s not just the ability to make useful tooling. We are seeing how additive manufacturing is facilitating creative ideas from the manufacturing engineer. It’s amazing how much they can use additive to improve their process.

The use of additive manufacturing for tooling, even items larger than 12 in., is under the radar because it’s not sexy.