Call early and then call often
If time to market is important to you (and who doesn’t think that?), for gosh sake call!
As an injection mold and injection molding services provider, we are here to help you get your product to market on time and on budget. We do get calls from both existing and potential customers early, as they need approximate numbers for mold and part costs to do their project feasibility. Our existing customers know, that first call they make to us is one of many as the product evolves. For prospective customers, we try to emphasize that they need to keep us in the loop through the design cycle.
Meeting design requirement specifications in both functionality AND cost, means give and take, which equates to design changes. Often the part designer alters the component’s features for cosmetics or assembly reasons. Those changes likely mean the mold requires changes and possible impacts to the part cost. Typically a higher cost. Naturally, the more complex the part becomes, the mold increases in complexity and costs rise. Design aspects we are talking about include simple ones like wall thicknesses, undercuts, and even material selection.
Keeping your mold designer/molder (even better if they are one in the same like PlastiCert) in the loop, or better yet at the design team table, can save product development time. Changes to design are not bad but need to be weighed against possible changes to the mold design for a cost to benefit. Even better, get input from the mold designer/molder to accomplish the design change in a different manner with less impact to the mold design. That will keep you on schedule and on budget. What engineer would not want to embrace that? (Or avoid having to deal with the alternative?)
Want to bring your new product to market ON TIME? Want to have the final product cost to be reflective of the initial estimate that cleared the way to pursue the project? Then give us a call. We work with you at your table or as a step in the process. Either way your product design will evolve both meeting customer needs and initial cost estimates.