So, you have a part you want made out of plastic (or rubber). You have a drawing, maybe a CAD file. You know what the part needs to do.
What now?
This is the stage where you need to make the leap from idea to practical. To get the part finalized, material specified, and actually get the part into production. What information do you need to have to finalize everything?
1.) Know Your Operational Environment
This is absolutely critical and something we often need to work through with customers before we make a recommendation. You need to know the complete operational environment for your part. This includes:
- Min/Max operating temperature
- Chemical exposure (and how much exposure to each chemical – it matters!)
- UV-exposure
- Pressure applied on the part (in PSI)
Depending on the part there may be other critical factors but you should know at least those four.
2.) Know Your Required Tolerances
This is perhaps the most important thing that keeps getting overlooked in part design. Often we’re handed a drawing with metal tolerances (+/- 0.001″) and told to make it (hint: not possible to hold those tolerances). Or, in many cases, customers simply tell us to hold “best” tolerances. Did you know there’s a premium to that? When we work out a quote internally, required tolerances are part of that because of the time and risk involved in hitting our tightest (+/- 0.005″) tolerance. Often a (+/-) 0.03″ is suitable for many applications and since it will save you money, it’s worth it to know the demands of your application.
3.) Know Your Quantities – Buy In Bulk
Quantity usually means price break when it comes to parts. Customers will often send us a drawing and ask that we quote a couple pieces, ostensibly as samples. The issue is that the cost for prototypes will be inflated compared to the prototypes…And sometimes customers just think the price would remain constant. So know an accurate number of how many parts you will need once in production and get both prototypes and production runs quoted at once for a clear picture of your costs.
For more information on how to buy your parts in the most economical way possible, please contact us today.