Drone maker Lightcraft slashed part lead times from weeks to hours by bringing Formlabs Fuse 1+ SLS 3D printing fully in-house.
From Weeks to Hours: Lightcraft's In-House Manufacturing Shift
Lightcraft is a specialist drone service provider and manufacturer serving cinema, industrial, and defense markets. With a roughly 30-person team that includes some of the world's top pilots, the company places an intense focus on performance — iterating designs overnight so engineers can test and refine again the very next day. To keep pace with that ambition, Lightcraft brought the Formlabs Fuse 1+ 30W selective laser sintering (SLS) 3D printer in-house, cutting lead times for drone body parts and mounts from several weeks down to just hours.
Why FDM and Outsourcing Weren't Enough
Lightcraft already operated more than 10 3D printers, including FDM and low-cost resin machines. While FDM served basic prototyping needs, its uneven surface finish and limited mechanical properties made it unsuitable for finished drone components. The team previously relied on outsourced injection-molded or machined aluminum parts — an approach that was both costly and slow. A single revision could mean waiting weeks for a remake, stalling the entire development cycle.
What SLS Unlocks for Drone Design
The Fuse 1+ changed the equation entirely. SLS printing requires no support structures, enabling complex geometries that were simply impossible to achieve with FDM. Lightcraft now produces durable, high-precision drone frames, mounts, and body parts directly in-house, maintaining full quality control at every step. The Fuse Sift station handles powder recovery and initial part cleaning as part of a streamlined post-processing workflow.
Building a Lean In-House Microfactory
By combining rapid overnight iteration with end-use part production on a single platform, Lightcraft has effectively built a compact microfactory. Engineers can design, print, test, and refine — all without waiting on external suppliers. For a company chasing the limits of drone performance, that speed and independence is a decisive competitive advantage.
