Case Study: Celoplás achieves 40% lighter, faster tooling and greater manufacturing agility with Stratasys Fortus 450mc FDM

Overcoming Traditional Tooling Challenges with FDM Additive Manufacturing

Celoplás, a Portugal-based developer and manufacturer of precision injection-molded components, faced limitations with traditional milling and grinding for production tooling—restricted geometries, heavy aluminum tools that strained robots, long lead times and reliance on external suppliers. To validate additive manufacturing as a solution, Celoplás invested in a Stratasys FDM Fortus 450mc 3D printer (through local partner CODI) to bring tooling production in-house.

Using the Stratasys Fortus 450mc to produce fixtures, jigs and end-of-arm tooling, Celoplás unlocked complex, fused geometries and much lighter thermoplastic parts—reducing tool weight by 40% and cutting production time by about 40%—while lowering cost, increasing robot speed and reducing wear. The Stratasys solution also improved agility by enabling engineers to redesign and 3D print custom tools in hours, reduced dependence on suppliers, and supported further optimizations such as successful overmolding of metal inserts to shorten assembly time.

Celoplás

Ana Cortez

Research, Development and Innovation Manager