Ricoh Japan Modernizes Manufacturing Facility; Updates with 3D-Printed Tools

Stratasys announces that Ricoh Japan is replacing traditional metal tooling with customized, lightweight 3D printed jigs and fixtures for its Production Technology Center assembly line. The assembly line, located in the northeast branch of Ricoh Industries in Miyagi prefecture, Japan, is dedicated to manufacturing large-format printers.

By producing the tools in durable ABS thermoplastic on its Stratasys Fortus 900mc Production 3D Printer, Ricoh can customize each tool precisely according to the part geometry while reducing the tool’s weight. This has enabled Ricoh to accelerate the manufacturing process in which an operator typically handles more than 200 parts each day.

Ricoh develops and manufactures office equipment such as copiers, fax machines and projectors.

“Because we are producing an enormous number of parts, it takes a lot of time and effort to identify the right jigs and fixtures for each one. This manual process has become even lengthier as the number of components grows, requiring that an operator examine the shape, orientation and angle of each part before taking out a tool and placing it back in its original fixture. The operators were occasionally annoyed with the many different tools, and we were looking for a way to accelerate tooling to match our manufacturing schedule,” says Taizo Sakaki, senior manager of business development at Ricoh Group.

Prior to 3D printing, Ricoh had to outsource machine-cut tools. Now, Ricoh’s operators can determine the shape and geometry of a fixture that corresponds to its associated part through 3D CAD software and 3D print it in one day. The jigs and fixtures are also much lighter .

“The Stratasys Fortus 900mc 3D printing solution enables us to realize designs that are difficult for conventional cutting methods to replicate, such as hollow interiors, curves or complex shapes,” explains Sakaki.

Ricoh’s large-format printer assembly plant has adopted digital manufacturing, and the company continues to explore areas where 3D printing can be applied to expedite workflows, such as molding and low-volume production.

For more info, visit Stratasys and Ricoh Japan.

Sources: Press materials received from the company.