Case Study: Boom Supersonic achieves 92% cost savings and weeks-to-days lead times with Stratasys 3D-printed drill guides

Boom Supersonic uses 3D printing to challenge what’s possible in commercial flight

Boom Supersonic faced a production challenge on its XB-1 demonstrator: thousands of precisely located fastener holes had to be drilled across the airframe, a process made slow and cumbersome by traditional fixturing and metal drill guides with high cost and long lead times. Stratasys stepped in with additive manufacturing capability, using Fortus 450mc and F900 printers to enable a faster, lower-cost approach to producing drill guides.

Working with Stratasys technology, Boom 3D printed multi-hole drill guides in FDM Nylon 12CF and ULTEM 9085 to provide the strength and stiffness needed for power-feed drilling while ensuring accurate hole location. The result: roughly $3,700 saved on a typical guide (about 92% cost reduction versus machining), lead times cut from weeks to days (about a one-week average savings), and more than 700 drill blocks produced so far—delivering significant material cost savings and a measurable acceleration of the XB-1 production schedule.

Boom Supersonic

Mike Jagemann

Director of XB-1 Production