AFYS3G manufactures enclosures for laboratory equipment with a large-format FFF printer of its own design

The Dutch company AFYS3G is increasingly relying on in-house additive manufacturing for building laboratory equipment. For enclosures and larger mechanical components, the manufacturer uses the BigRep Studio to shorten development cycles and avoid tooling costs.

“We needed a large-format 3D printer to manufacture enclosures for devices. We didn’t want to invest in large amounts of tooling such as die casting, injection molding, or vacuum casting. So we thought 3D printing would be a good alternative,” said Harry Epping, manufacturing process engineer at AFYS3G.

Technically, the system is designed as a closed, large-format FFF setup with a build volume of 1000 × 500 × 500 mm. The enclosed build chamber with an insulated housing and BOFA exhaust routing vents emissions through HEPA filters and helps meet operational safety requirements. For end-use applications, AFYS3G prints with materials from the BigRep portfolio, including HI-TEMP, to obtain rigid, dimensionally stable parts with low warping. After printing, the parts are trial-assembled to check fits, interfaces, and mounting points. Post-processing then follows with sanding, filling, and painting; visible exterior surfaces receive defined surface qualities up to high-gloss black, while interior surfaces are reinforced functionally, for example with inserts for mechanical stabilization.

The process chain is complemented by BigRep Connect, a remote monitoring solution that provides print progress and analytics to support planning and quality decisions. According to AFYS3G, lead times drop from formerly months-long tooling and procurement phases to weeks; in parallel, variants can be iterated quickly before the final enclosures are printed in small series. The success of the transition led to a second Studio system to buffer capacity bottlenecks during long build jobs.

For AFYS3G’s life-science devices—such as systems for labeling, scanning, tempering, and mixing samples—the approach means that functional and aesthetic requirements can be covered in-house.

“We use 3D printing for almost everything. If there’s a way to 3D print parts, we will always take that opportunity,” said Harry Epping.