Case Study: KUKA accelerates robot prototyping and cuts development time with MakerBot 3D Printers

KUKA Builds the Future of Manufacturing With Makerbot 3D Printers

KUKA, a global leader in robotics and intelligent automation with roughly 14,000 employees, needed faster, lower-cost ways to prototype robot arms, grippers and custom tooling to accelerate Industry 4.0 solutions. To meet that challenge the company deployed MakerBot 3D printers (including MakerBot Z18s and MakerBot Replicator+) to bring prototyping and small‑run production in‑house and reduce reliance on outsourced or metal parts.

MakerBot printers were used across KUKA’s Prototyping and Applications Engineering teams to print scale prototypes, cable-routing tests, custom jigs and end-effectors. The MakerBot fleet runs over 7,000 hours a year with a 92% success rate, enabling KUKA to shave several weeks off the KR 3 AGILUS development cycle and cut 2–4 weeks from some end‑effector projects, while lowering costs and increasing on‑site customization and iterative testing.

KUKA

Otmar Honsberg

Head of Application Engineering Team