Product engineering
A 3-axis gimbal for serial production
Parts designed for injection moulding, checked with FEA before tooling is committed.
See the project
I'm moving into production
Design for Manufacturing (DfM)
A product is not well designed just because it works. It has to be made reliably, repeatably and at a sensible cost.
Why early
The cost of a part is decided at the design stage.
Changes identified early can have a large effect and cost little. Design flaws found later are hard to implement and expensive: a mould that has to be modified, a part that warps, an assembly that needs rework on the line.
In injection moulding the mould is a substantial investment, so changes should be settled before quotations are requested and mould design starts.
What we take on
In depth where we are experts. With your supplier everywhere else.
Expert level
Injection-moulded parts and assemblies
During DfM for a moulded part we study in detail:
- Parting line
- Opening direction and slides
- Ejector type and position
- Gates and runner system
- Filling and cooling
- Number of cavities
- Wall thickness, ribs and draft
- Weak spots in the mould
- Surface quality
- Dimensional and geometric tolerances
- Risk of warpage, sink marks, weld lines
- Mould steel quality
For assemblies: snap-fits, ultrasonic welding, screws and threaded inserts, printings and how all these affect the part and tool design.
Any process
Review of an existing design
- Geometry improvements
- Tolerances that match function and process
- Assembly: fewer parts, fewer operations, no ambiguity
- Choice of manufacturing process
- Co-operation with the manufacturer
For sheet metal, rubber, die-casting and machining we apply the design rules of each process and talk directly with your supplier, so the drawing that reaches the supplier can be made at the right cost.
What we do not do
We do not make the product or the mould ourselves. We make sure the ones who do receive a design and specifications to produce reliably.
How we work
A review that ends in decisions, not in a list of remarks.
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Requirements and quantities
What the part has to do. ΅What specifications must be met, what legal fereamework is related. How many will be made.
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Review of the design
The 3D model is checked against the process: geometry, tolerances, mould concept, assembly.
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Proposals
Each change with its reason and its effect on cost, quality and risk.
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Agreement with the manufacturer
The changes are discussed with the toolmaker or supplier and carried into the final model.
What you receive
- A DfM report: every proposed change, with its reason and its effect
- The corrected 3D models, when we carry out the changes
- A design that the toolmaker and the moulder have agreed to
Related projects
Real projects.
Product design · Consulting
A new injection moulding department
New injection-moulded parts for the company's products, and consulting on setting up its own injection moulding department.
See the project
Check your design before it becomes expensive.
Send the 3D model and the expected quantities. We will tell you what a DfM review is likely to find and what it would change in the cost of the part and the mould.
Complimentary first site visit & analysis
Custom proposal, regardless of project scale
Strict confidentiality & NDA protection