Manufacturing processes performed within an abrasive environment may be subject to damage of the tooling involved, shortening the effective life cycle of said tooling. The cost-effectiveness of these processes may be increased by replacing the material used for tooling with a 3D-printed polymer. A common type of tooling known as robotic grippers were selected and made to handle a raw material. Raw materials are known to possess some degree of surface roughness, which over time can degrade the grippers to the point of non-functionality. By comparing the life cycle of 3D-printed polymer grippers (in cycles until failure) to that of standard aluminum grippers, weighted by the production cost of each, the ratio of cost-effectiveness was able to be determined.