Case Study: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory achieves pinpoint precision and dramatic cost and time savings with Protolabs

National research lab turns to Protolabs to cut production costs and development time

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and its National Ignition Facility (NIF) — the world’s largest laser facility — needed extremely small, high‑precision parts and tooling (some target pieces are the size of a pencil eraser) while cutting the time and cost of custom machining. To meet these requirements, LLNL turned to Protolabs’ digital manufacturing services, including industrial 3D printing (stereolithography and DMLS) and, historically, CNC machining.

Protolabs produced thousands of precision plastic and metal parts and fixtures since 2011, using additive manufacturing and automated design analysis to shorten development cycles and enable complex geometries. Protolabs’ work delivered dramatic, measurable benefits: for example, a vacuum‑chuck design moved from $5,000 and a 5‑week lead time via traditional machining to under $100 and less than one week with Protolabs’ 3D printing, while single complex fixtures reduced assembly time and overall program costs.

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

Roger Von Rotz

Production Engineer