Built to Print vs Built to Perform: Why the Difference Matters

Posted on by Tadhg Hurley

We’ve all seen parts that tick every box on the drawing—dimensions, finish, tolerances, everything by the book—
…and yet, they don’t quite work the way they should.

The holes line up, but the assembly needs a bit of persuasion.
The surface is in spec, but cleaning is a nightmare.
The part functions—but not reliably, or not repeatably.

This is the quiet gap between built to print and built to perform.

And if you’re in life sciences, robotics, food production, or pharma, where performance isn’t optional, that gap can be the difference between smooth scale-up and a pile of non-conformances.

So what’s the difference?

Built to Print means:

  • The part matches the drawing exactly.

  • All specified tolerances are met.

  • It passes inspection.

  • But it may not account for how it's handled, assembled, cleaned, or behaves under load.

Built to Perform means:

  • The part fits where it should, how it should, consistently.

  • It’s easy to assemble and align.

  • It considers how it’ll function under real-world conditions—vibration, sterilisation, cleaning agents, thermal expansion, etc.

  • And it’s repeatable—not just once, but every time.

Built to print is the baseline. Built to perform is the goal.

Why does this matter for buyers?

Because performance is what your process relies on.

Let’s say you’re in pharma and a custom bracket causes a minor misalignment in a peristaltic pump setup. You may still get the machine qualified—but you’ve now introduced friction, literal and organisational.

In medtech, a part that just barely fits may still pass incoming inspection—but if it causes problems during validation or sterilisation, you're looking at weeks of investigation.

In robotics or food automation, downtime is expensive. Parts that wear faster than expected, or require operator “feel” to install, break that chain of reliability.

We’ve seen all of the above—and fixed them—when given the chance to look beyond the print.

What can be done differently?

Here’s how you close the gap:

✅ Bring your machinist in early – even if it’s just a quick review
✅ Ask: How is this part used, not just how is it made?
✅ Challenge tolerances – Are they functional or legacy?
✅ Think downstream – Cleaning, assembly, inspection, servicing
✅ Focus on repeatability – Does this work just as well on part 1000 as it did on part 1?

It’s not about redoing the whole drawing. It’s about taking a few moments to design for outcome, not just manufacture.

At MAAS Precision, this is where we thrive.

We’re not just here to quote and cut.
We’re here to ask the questions that sometimes get missed—because that’s where real value is created.

And in critical industries, where performance drives everything—“good enough” isn’t good enough.

Got a part that’s technically in spec but never quite right in the field?
We’ll take a look. No fluff, no sales pitch—just engineering insight from people who care about what happens after the part leaves our door.