Low Volume Manufacturing
In the early manufacturing years, skilled craftsmen used to create goods from one to another. The demand for faster and cheaper products in the market resulted in factories and mass production. As we speak, high-quantity manufacturing facilities produce millions of products every year. However, this article will solely focus on low volume production. It is one of the techniques that we cannot overlook because of the role that it plays in the industrial world.
There comes a time when you only need to produce 10, 100, or 1000 of metal products every year. In such a case, high volume production is out of the equation. One of the industries that make wide use of low volume manufacturing is the one for medical devices. For instance, you need to test new concepts in the pilot markets or in the clinical trials before you can go ahead to produce large volumes when necessary. USA Contract Manufacturing Specialists deal in low volume manufacturing of metal products. It remains to be one of the best contract manufacturing companies in the region.
In this case, the manufacturing processes, product aesthetics, and design options are limited because the costs of setup and tooling are more significant elements of the projects’ budget. The vendors have a lower inclination to respond. To add to this, the expectations of clients call for more active management. However, there are so many opportunities among the challenges that low volume manufacturing present. It is among the most widely used techniques in the modern manufacturing world.
In the case of high-quantity manufacturing, the initial investment will spread across the parts. When it comes to low quantity manufacturing, though, the capital investment may overwhelm that cost of parts. There should be a balance among the desired features, speed, and cost. The utilization of commercial off-the-shelf parts in the low volume production limits creativity and aesthetics. Designing complex goods for low volume manufacturing normally calls for compromise. Once you understand the limitation that every process has, engineers are able to tailor designs to use the low volume technique to make great designs. The designer can also amplify the parts count by making the right and left sides the same or utilizing the same part in multiple places. The design principles for production extend to all the processes.
You need to educate customers about the compromises and challenges of low-volume production early enough. With this in place, everyone will be knowing what to expect. Understand the volume of fabrication and choose an ideal process of manufacturing early so that you can optimize the design for the best function and form. It is generally better than when you try to push the limits of the manufacturing technology to achieve something of which it is not appropriate.
One of the most frustrating challenges in low volume production is the vendors. More products are equal to higher revenue in mass production. The response of vendors to small quantity orders is low unless they are specifically prepared for low-volume manufacturing. You need to get a company that specializes in this type of production like USA Contract Manufacturing Specialists. These experts are set up to run several small jobs at once using their easily configurable assembly and manufacturing areas. However, it is prudent to confirm the process controls and capabilities of the manufacturer.
While ordering off-the-shelf metal parts, try using parts that have multiple sources or those that come on standard sizes. If a certain part is discontinued, you can easily substitute another with no need for substantial product design. In case this type of backup is not feasible, the low volume producer will rely on the single-source part. In such a case, develop the contingency plans if the parts become obsolete. Even though low volume manufacturing comes with some challenges, it also has its benefits. When you use processes that match small batches, production, and prototype, the units can have similar materials and components. It enables the testing of early performance and preliminary validation and verification exercises, which reduces surprises that may show up in the first article builds.
When you are aware of the challenges that come with low volume manufacturing early enough, it will make the design process much easier. Once you know the limitations of this process, you will shorten the design time and manage the expectations of the client. You may have to make compromises with some ingenuity and design practices. It is not hard to develop an esthetically pleasing and successful product on the market using low volume manufacturing and within a reasonable budget. Here are the top benefits of low volume manufacturing;
Most people believe that as the volume of production goes up, the cost of manufacturing will obviously go up. What this means is that to get cheap metal parts, you need to produce more of them. However, this is not necessarily the case. If you go for mass production of parts, especially for injection modeling ad pressure die casting, you should make huge investments in more costly tool steel, and this in turn requires to be heat-treated and hardened more carefully to withstand the rigor of large-scale production. With all this in mind, low volume production of up to 100K pieces can be a good way of avoiding large investments while still manufacturing high-quality parts. If the part does not have to be so durable, it will be faster and more economical to purchase. If the tool happens to wear out during the production phase, you will have to make another one and the manufacturer should do that at no extra cost. If a company is set for large scale manufacturing, it will carry a massive inventory of equipment and raw materials. To cover the investment that they make, they ask you to produce a large minimum order quantity. However, low-volume manufacturing specialists don’t carry the same overhead amounts. Therefore, they process your orders more economically and faster with no demand for the minimum order. Low volume manufacturing makes sure that there is a faster time to get to the make. Technological changes keep on increasing over time and there is a constant demand to innovate that comes with it. It puts product developers under a lot of pressure to either create new designs or modify the existing ones and distribute them as soon as possible. The difference between success and failure could be being the first brand to market the products. Low volume production is an appropriate way to help your make sufficient volume to sell without creating unsustainable burdens on the inventory. To add on this, with low volumes and optimized supply chains, it has short lead times with metal parts that are ready to go within a few weeks or days. Thus, you will have a quick route to the market. Low volume manufacturing brings forth high flexibility in the design. When producing, you may come across certain design elements that you may wish to modify. Low volume manufacturing allows you to make the changes without impacting the whole order greatly. Low volume production gives you the option of bridging the production. Low volume production gives you the allowance of eventually scaling up to full-scale production. This is why it is sometimes referred to as bridge tooling or bridge production. As the volumes continue to increase progressively, you will have the option of streamlining the best practices to achieve additional cost savings and enhance product quality. The value that low volume production brings to the customers continue to increase as we race into the future. The popularity of low volume manufacturing continues to increase as the product life cycle gets shorter and the market becomes more demanding. USA Contract Manufacturing Specialists will support you through all the stages of low volume manufacturing. Low Volume Manufacturing Will Save You Money
Rapid Manufacturing Tooling
Injection Modeling Facilities
Engineers Help with DFM
Finished parts
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