Case Study: Volvo Car Gent achieves lighter, cheaper, and more precise production jigs with Materialise

How Volvo Car Gent Has Reimagined Production Fixtures

Volvo Car Gent, the high‑volume assembly plant in Ghent, faced inefficiencies from heavy, welded gluing jigs used to apply logos and model marks — fixtures that were hard to calibrate, fragile, and had tolerances up to ±2 mm and long lead times. Working with Materialise, the plant sought a faster, lighter, and more accurate production‑fixture solution using additive‑manufacturing design expertise.

Materialise delivered a modular gluing jig that combines a lightweight carbon‑tube frame with 3D‑printed connection points, TPU buffers and PA 12 components, plus a dedicated calibration fixture. The new design achieves tolerances under 0.2 mm, costs 48% less, is 64% lighter, can be delivered in about two weeks, and has improved durability, ergonomics and expected reductions in scrap and rework — demonstrating Materialise’s impact on production efficiency.

Volvo Car Gent

Hannes Wauters

Equipment Engineer