Case Study: Oreck achieves up to 65% fixture cost savings and faster, simplified assembly with Stratasys FDM 3D printing

Additive Manufacturing Reduces Fixturing Costs Up To 65 Percent at Oreck with Stratasys 3D Printing Solutions

Oreck, maker of the Titanium Series XL21 upright commercial vacuum, faced the challenge of producing 40–50 identical, highly precise assembly pallets for each vacuum run—fixtures that must hold the top cover to 0.003 inch tolerances. Traditional molding and casting methods were costly (some projects exceeded $100,000) and slow, so Oreck turned to Stratasys and its Fortus 3D Production Systems using FDM technology to address this need.

Using Stratasys Fortus FDM, Oreck designs fixture components in CAD and prints four plastic posts that mount to standard Bosch pallets, enabling rapid in‑house production and easy replacement of worn parts. The Stratasys solution cut fixture costs from $100,000 to $35,000 (a 65% savings), shortened lead times, reduced downtime, and proved versatile for prototypes, tools and inspection fixtures—paying for the machines after only a few projects.

Oreck

Bill Fish

Senior Model Maker