Glossary

Jigs and fixtures

What jigs and fixtures are in manufacturing, why they appear as setup costs, and what they mean for repeatability.

What they are

Jigs guide tools; fixtures hold parts. Both are workholding aids built to make an operation repeatable — drilling in the same place every time, welding at the same angle, assembling in the same order.

Why they appear in quotes

Fixture-making is a one-time cost that buys consistency across the run. Like tooling, clarify who pays, who owns them, and whether they are kept for repeat orders.

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