Manufacturing production equipment parts using 3D printing has brought Orion cost savings, efficiency, and completely new opportunities. The basis for the long-standing partnership with 3D Formtech is joint process development, seamless everyday cooperation, and strong trust in expertise.
The original text published on January 16, 2020
The benefits collaboration has brought to Orion:
✔️ Flexibility for production lines – when changes are needed in production, versioning and implementation are agile.
✔️ 3D Formtech meets printing needs quickly and efficiently – parts are delivered in a week instead of months, and costs have fallen to a tenth of what they used to be.
✔️ 3D Formtech is an active partner in development, ensuring that 3D printing serves business needs optimally.
The best ways to utilize 3D printing have been established over the years
Orion is a Finnish pharmaceutical company and a globally operating creator of well-being that develops, manufactures and markets medicines and active substances used in medicines for humans and animals.
The employees at the Orion plant in Salo pack several hundred different pharmaceutical packages on seven different production lines. Each product has its own packaging size and type, which is why product-specific components were needed for the packaging lines. Previously, the only option to get components was to order them ready-made from tool manufacturers and equipment suppliers with delivery times of up to 2–3 months. Collaboration with 3D Formtech brought a significant change in the process several years ago.
“At Orion, we followed the general development of 3D printing and decided to see whether we were at the point where we could use 3D printing in industrial production,” said Orion’s Technical Manager Antti Niemi in 2020.
3D Formtech was selected as a partner due to the company’s expertise and know-how.
“3D Formtech visited us at the beginning of our collaboration to tell us more about the possibilities industrial 3D printing offers, and they also built completely unique prototypes for us. We soon discovered that the same components that were traditionally made with injection moulding could be made with 3D printing,” Niemi described.
Now, in 2025, 3D printing has been fully adopted at Orion. A good balance has been found between what is printed in-house and where the expertise of partners is utilized. For example, prototypes and some production parts are manufactured in-house, but when there is a need for larger, more complex parts that are more demanding in terms of mechanics or surface quality, 3D Formtech steps in.
The printed items are typically various production equipment parts and auxiliary tools, such as grippers, guides, and clamps. The pharmaceutical industry has strict cleanliness requirements, which is why the printing material must also be biocompatible. The material used for 3D printing is PA 12, which is approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
3D printing brings speed, efficiency, and new ways of solving problems
When 3D Formtech and Orion began their collaboration, 3D printing enabled completely new possibilities. According to Niemi, Orion needed a variety of tools and wear components for various processes. With 3D printing, they could now be produced faster and more cost-effectively than before.
“The cost of one product-specific component has dropped to less than a tenth with 3D printing – so we really save a lot. The delivery time has also decreased from 2–3 months to about a week. This speeds up production lead time significantly and is tremendously efficient,” Niemi said.
Not only were spare parts, auxiliary tools and wear components produced faster, 3D printing could also solve phenomena that have not previously been possible to solve with simulation tools alone. 3D printing offered thus completely new ways of doing things and made operations even more efficient.
“The benefits of 3D printing culminate in cost savings, fast production and delivery times, operational efficiency and enabling things that traditional production methods do not offer. We are also able to avoid production interruptions better, because the spare parts in malfunctioning equipment can be replaced in just a few days. We don’t have to wait for them from the equipment supplier in Germany. Not only that, 3D printed prototypes can be used to test our equipment even before deployment and, consequently, we can ensure that it will work when we start producing the actual products,” Niemi continued.
The same benefits will continue to improve efficiency years later. The collaboration between Orion and 3D Formtech has grown naturally over time, and in the last two years, for example, its value has roughly doubled. Patrik Oksanen from 3D Formtech leads the customer relationship as Key Account Manager.
“Orion is an important partner for us, and we are in touch several times a month. In addition to meeting weekly needs, we constantly monitor how we can optimize 3D printing operations and what new developments we can make to support the business. Despite the distance between Salo and Jyväskylä, our cooperation is very close and effective,” says Oksanen.
The ease of cooperation is a major advantage of the partnership
3D printing has brought Orion many benefits compared to previously, both financially and in terms of efficiency. According to Niemi, having the right partner to actively help, give support, and offer new ideas is key.
“I feel 3D Formtech is a real partner whose expertise is so valuable that we shouldn’t even consider making 3D prints ourselves. Right from the start, they gave us a really good idea of the different possibilities available and good ideas for development, for example, on how to do things even more efficiently. We have been active enquirers and have always received support and answers to even difficult questions. They also always keep us well informed on everything,” Niemi described.
“The materials 3D Formtech uses are high-quality and versatile, and since they have received regulatory approval, the 3D printed components can be used for parts that come into contact with products. The order-delivery process works particularly well, and quotes are always provided quickly – even within a few hours of submitting a request for a quote,” Niemi continued.
In 2025, Orion is still satisfied with the cooperation, down to the practical details. Production Engineer Esa Tuikkanen particularly appreciates the smoothness of the process.
“The ease of ordering is one of the most important benefits on a day-to-day basis. The collaboration has become so seamless that we can send 3D models directly to 3D Formtech and trust that we will get what we want. The parts are high quality, as are the deliveries – right down to the neat packaging.”