Case Study: BMW achieves faster, cheaper, more reliable custom assembly tooling with Xometry

BMW Uses Xometry’s Range of Technologies to Make Custom Assembly Tooling

BMW’s tooling engineers at its South Carolina manufacturing facility needed highly custom, conformal fixtures for trim, badges and alignment, but traditional CNC-machined tools were expensive and slow in low volumes. Mixing CNC, 3D printing and urethane casting reduced costs but created heavy sourcing overhead (about 10 hours per week). Tooling Design Engineer Ryan Lambert looked for a multi-process supplier and turned to Xometry and its Instant Quoting Engine to simplify quoting and ordering.

Xometry provided a single-source platform and network of specialists for 3D printing (SLA, SLS, FDM), CNC machining, urethane casting and carbon-fiber components, plus engineering support to optimize parts for manufacture. As a result, BMW reduced fixture costs by up to 25%, reclaimed roughly 10 hours per week for engineers, cut application error rates from 10% to under 4%, and produced tools that are 25–50% lighter — all while Xometry managed fulfillment across its partner network.

BMW

Ryan Lambert

Tooling Design Engineer