Call early, call often, but if you want good time to market, for gosh sakes 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 is one of many as the product evolves. For prospective customers we have just met, we try to emphasize that they need to keep us in the loop.
Meeting design requirement specifications in both functionality AND cost, means give and take which equates to design change. Often the part designer alters the component’s features for cosmetics or assembly reasons, and so too will the mold and possibly the part cost change. More often than not, that change will be an increase. 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) in the loop or better yet at the table can save product development time. Changes to design are not bad, but need to be weighed against changes to the mold design for a cost to benefit. Even better, 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?)
Similar articles:
Building a capable manufacturing process
Cross training – it’s not just for production
Re-shoring, right shoring, call it what you want, maybe even common sense.
Preventative maintenance for ALL the parts of the system keep things moving
Veterans Day, Injection Molding, Manufacturing, and sacrifice