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Their main problem seems to be that they had never thought about how injection molding works, but started a CAD path to a product that would need to be injectio

Their main problem seems to be that they had never thought about how injection molding works, but started a CAD path to a product that would need to be injection molded. Anyone who has built plastic models could have told them a lot of this information, and it's a bit surprising that they had to learn by doing at that stage.

mionhe 3y ago
Not that surprising, unfortunately. I work with lots of clients and engineers who assume that 3d printing and CAD is all the experience & input you need to move to plastic injection. It's actually shockingly common. I think it's really a problem of not knowing what you don't know yet.
- hef19898 3y ago
  +1 on the 3d printing, portong parts from 3d printed rapid prototypes to machined / molded / forged / cast production parts involves much more work and effort than most people think. Including engineers and even manufacturing engineers...
leptons 3y ago
With resin 3D printing, I can produce a complex case for my product, although at a higher cost per unit than injection mold - but with no up-front costs. It seems fairly cost effective considering the extremely high cost of making an injection mold. I'm not at the scale of needing 100,000 or 1mil units though. Right now it's costing me $5 per complete case (5 parts, $1 each - it isn't a very large case). I can have 10,000 of these cases made for about the same price as it costs to create the injection mold. I'm nowhere near the scale of 10,000 units right now, but maybe in the region of 1,000 units. The cost does get passed on to the customer and if I ever get an investor and serious traction in the market then the injection mold will sort itself out and the per unit cost for my product will go down.
mmac_ 3y ago
Often I see someone who will design something in CAD but not think about how the product will be manufactured. Design for manufacturing isn't a buzzword. It happens with both plastic and other type of enclosures (metal etc). The better designers understand the manufacturing process and build their designs thinking about how they will be created in a production line. As others have mentioned, most manufacturers will say 'yes' to anything you request and charge accordingly. They'll just figure it out somehow, but you'll be unaware that you've doubled the cost of your part due to a lack of understanding of construction. I guess it happens in other fields as well, i.e. architects vs builders in the construction industry.

mionhe 3y ago

Not that surprising, unfortunately. I work with lots of clients and engineers who assume that 3d printing and CAD is all the experience & input you need to move to plastic injection. It's actually shockingly common. I think it's really a problem of not knowing what you don't know yet.

hef19898 3y ago
+1 on the 3d printing, portong parts from 3d printed rapid prototypes to machined / molded / forged / cast production parts involves much more work and effort than most people think. Including engineers and even manufacturing engineers...

leptons 3y ago

With resin 3D printing, I can produce a complex case for my product, although at a higher cost per unit than injection mold - but with no up-front costs. It seems fairly cost effective considering the extremely high cost of making an injection mold. I'm not at the scale of needing 100,000 or 1mil units though. Right now it's costing me $5 per complete case (5 parts, $1 each - it isn't a very large case). I can have 10,000 of these cases made for about the same price as it costs to create the injection mold. I'm nowhere near the scale of 10,000 units right now, but maybe in the region of 1,000 units. The cost does get passed on to the customer and if I ever get an investor and serious traction in the market then the injection mold will sort itself out and the per unit cost for my product will go down.

mmac_ 3y ago

Often I see someone who will design something in CAD but not think about how the product will be manufactured. Design for manufacturing isn't a buzzword. It happens with both plastic and other type of enclosures (metal etc). The better designers understand the manufacturing process and build their designs thinking about how they will be created in a production line. As others have mentioned, most manufacturers will say 'yes' to anything you request and charge accordingly. They'll just figure it out somehow, but you'll be unaware that you've doubled the cost of your part due to a lack of understanding of construction. I guess it happens in other fields as well, i.e. architects vs builders in the construction industry.