Case Study: Saint-Gobain achieves 86% cost savings and 90-day lead-time reduction with Markforged

Saint-Gobain Improved The Overall Workflow Of Production Activities After Putting Their Markforged X7 To Use

Saint-Gobain Research North America faced a sudden production change when a customer redesign of a weaving bobbin required 400 new spindle adapters. Machining the adapters in-house would have cost about $47,000 in materials and labor and taken roughly 1,200 hours, so the team turned to Markforged, using the Markforged X7 industrial 3D printer and Onyx (chopped carbon fiber–reinforced nylon) to meet the demand quickly.

By printing the adapters on the Markforged X7, Saint-Gobain produced 400 parts with minimal labor, saved approximately 86% in costs, cut about 90 days from lead time, and achieved a 100% return on investment within six months. The shift to Markforged technology freed machinist capacity, increased plant uptime, and enabled the company to produce carbon-fiber–reinforced fixtures that perform like aluminum at lower cost.

Saint-Gobain

Emmanuel Simadiris

Research Engineer