Case Study: Wärtsilä achieves first CE‑certified, 75% lighter lifting tool and €100K tooling savings with Markforged

How Wärtsilä Created the First CE-Certified Lifting Tool

Wärtsilä, a global leader in marine and energy technology with factories in Vaasa and Trieste, faced high cost, long lead times, and heavy, hard-to-modify steel lifting tools that they had to source from third parties. To address the need for lighter, faster-to-produce, and custom-fit fixtures, the company turned to Markforged’s carbon-fiber 3D printing technology (including an Industrial Series X7 purchased via partner 3DZ).

Working with Markforged, Wärtsilä redesigned and 3D printed a split-part lifting tool reinforced with continuous carbon fiber, achieving a 75% weight reduction and producing the first CE‑certified 3D printed lifting tool (240 kg certified capacity, 960 kg tested). The shift to Markforged printers has saved over €100,000 in tooling in eight months, cut lead times from weeks to days, and enabled distributed, on-demand production across facilities.

Wärtsilä

Juho Raukola

Innovation Expert (Additive Manufacturing)