Josh Coffey, Communications Lead
In April 2025, Ricoh 3D migrated from Ricoh UK Products Ltd’s (RPL) business portfolio to the newly established Ricoh Printing Solutions Europe Ltd (RPSE) business, co-habiting at Ricoh’s Telford-based site.
RPSE consolidates functions such as sales, engineering support, and evaluation of industrial inkjet printing business in Europe, providing specialised support to customers and co-creating new value.
This latest project was a collaboration between Ricoh 3D, RPSE, RPL, and Ricoh’s headquarter company, Ricoh Company Ltd (RCL). Together, Ricoh has combined technical expertise and innovation to co-create a manufacturing solution for the support of cartridge modifications.
Application
RPSE required a new jig to support the modification of redesigned ink cartridges within one of its production areas. The existing jig in use was optimised for smaller, legacy cartridges and could not accommodate the newly developed, larger designs.
The new cartridges were designed to hold more ink—reducing the need for frequent changeovers and minimising operational downtime. However, the dimensional differences presented challenges for engineers performing high-volume cartridge adjustments.
With previous experience producing additive manufactured jigs for RPL’s toner bottle modifications, Ricoh 3D was invited to collaborate on a new solution tailored to RPSE’s needs.
Challenge
Historically, both RPL and RPSE teams performed bottle and cartridge adjustments manually, on a per-part basis, across volumes ranging from hundreds to tens of thousands. This required ergonomically efficient and dimensionally accurate jigs to ensure quality, repeatability, and traceability – in addition to helping mitigate the potential of overuse injuries.
For this project, the key challenge lay in the dimensional precision required—particularly around the electronic interface area of the cartridge, where tolerances were within 0.3 mm. The jig also needed to accommodate multiple cartridge sizes, maintain operator comfort, and integrate seamlessly with existing metal fixtures in the production unit.
In addition, RPSE sought to reduce manual modification time, while improving consistency across thousands of units.
Solution
The Ricoh 3D team proposed an innovative “master jig” concept, capable of holding various cartridge sizes within a single modular design.
Following two knowledge-sharing sessions across Ricoh groups, the jig’s design progressed through two iterations of Ricoh 3D’s Design for Additive Manufacturing (DfAM) service, before being approved by a multidisciplinary engineering team spanning the UK and Japan.
Design work was completed by RPSE final-year apprentice, Eve, using SolidWorks for modelling and nTop for surface refinement—showcasing the talent development of apprentices in the business, and digital design innovation within Ricoh 3D.
The approved jig was additively manufactured using Multi Jet Fusion (MJF) technology in PA-12 (nylon) – a robust and dimensionally stable material ideal for industrial tooling applications.
Key design features included:
- A fixed, integrated opening tab printed in place, requiring no support material during manufacture, and only minimal post-processing to clear powder from the transitional joint.
- A bolt-on baseplate designed to attach directly to the existing metal block within RPSE’s internal system.
- Ergonomic lattice surface created using nTop, improving both grip and operator comfort while also serving as an aesthetic demonstration of advanced AM design capabilities.
Benefit
The final design was delivered within 1 week, from initial concept to printed and operational tool. The new master jig delivers several significant advantages:
- Multi-size compatibility – one jig for various cartridge formats (of small and large dimensions), reducing tooling inventory and setup time.
- High precision and repeatability – critical accuracy around the electronic interface (~0.3mm) ensured consistent modification quality.
- Improved ergonomics – the textured lattice surface enhanced handling comfort and operator efficiency.
- Rapid development – only two DfAM cycles were needed to achieve a production-ready design.
- Sustainability and cost efficiency – the PA-12 MJF process minimised material waste compared to traditional machining, while enabling lightweight, high-strength parts.
Results
The new jig is now fully operational within RPSE’s production area, directly supporting cartridge modification processes for newly redesigned ink cartridges.
The project demonstrated Ricoh’s capability to deliver end-to-end (E2E) manufacturing solutions—from concept design to production and deployment—through effective cross-regional collaboration between Ricoh 3D, RPSE, and RCL. Ricoh 3D refers to this value-adding collaboration as ‘3D Beyond’, whereby customers and partners can benefit from Ricoh’s global expertise, services and products, beyond just 3D printing.
The 7-day turnaround from design to implementation exemplifies Ricoh’s agile engineering approach and the power of in-house co-creation.
Testimonial
Doug Hill, Deputy Operations Manager
Doug Hill, Deputy Operations Manager (Ricoh Printing Solutions Europe Ltd) commented: “The ‘master jig’ has been an excellent solution to our cartridge modification challenge. Ricoh 3D’s team delivered quickly, collaboratively, and with exceptional precision.
“The new jig is proving both its durability and versatility. It’s a great example of how co-creation across Ricoh’s global teams can produce fast, effective and innovative manufacturing solutions.
“For customers and partners seeking fast go-to-market components and applications for industrial use, I strongly recommend getting in contact with the Ricoh 3D team.”
Contact us today and visit our Telford-based manufacturing site to discuss your ‘pain points’, explore co-creation opportunities and additive manufacturing solutions.