A Step by Step Guide to Saving Time and Money Without Sacrificing Quality
I met with Steve Howard who is the VP of Engineering for Meridian Products and 360 Tool & Design in Dallas Texas. We discussed steps in working with injection molders. Steve shared the information below with me to share with you.
What is “turn-key” ?
Simply put, turnkey manufacturing describes a manufacturer’s ability to assume responsibility for every step of a manufacturing project — from design and tooling creation to value-added secondary services. This relieves the customer from the need to manage and coordinate multiple vendors to complete their projects effectively and on time. Turn a single key. It’s helpful to know the steps normally involved in working with one.
Step 1: Selecting the Right Plastic Injection Molder
The best way to make an informed decision, especially if this is your first time working with a turnkey manufacturer, is with accurate and up-to-date information. There are a number of questions you can ask the manufacturer to get a very good feel of their capabilities. Some of these include:
Do I need to have a detailed design ready?
Not all manufacturers advertising themselves as “turnkey” offer design assistance. Some, however, can assist you with the initial design and planning stages of your molding process. With an expert staff of molders and engineers, their team can help you finalize part designs to maximize quality and production efficiency.
What determines the cost of a plastic part?
The cost of an injection molded plastic part depends on a range of variables, including design assistance, part size and weight, material used, secondary services, and many more factors. A reputable turnkey injection molding manufacturer will be upfront and transparent about cost.
What types of materials can be injection molded?
Asking what type of materials can be used for injection molding will help give you an idea of a manufacturer’s capabilities. If they don’t list the material you think will be best for your product, they may not be the best injection molding company for you.
What tolerances can you hold?
Tolerances are of obvious and utmost importance. In order for your part to function properly as it was designed to, and to minimize risk of failure, all specifications of a part — including overall geometry, size, wall thickness, and so on — must be exact. Any turnkey manufacturer you consider should be able to hold the tolerances you require.
What other services are available?
The whole concept behind “turnkey manufacturing” is that a single company offers every service required to create a fully completed part. If there are service gaps, you should consider moving on to the next manufacturer.
Step 2: Send in Design
If you have a completed design, send it to your chosen turnkey injection molder. They will either approve it as is or make suggestions to help expedite production or improve end quality of the part. Generally, design evaluation and approval can take four to five days; design assistance takes between 10 and 25, depending on provided materials and the complexity of the part. Validating your design with a prototype ensures that the part is functional. Great manufacturers will have additive manufacturing (3D printing) capabilities on site for quick prototyping to save you time.
Before submitting your design, ensure that you’ve included all of the required considerations. Draft features, which facilitate part removal from a mold, are often overlooked during the design phase. Another example is surface finish — turnkey injection molders can achieve a number of finishes, but not all materials are ideal for all finishes. A third overlooked consideration is witness lines, which are marks left where different parts of the mold connect — your part should be designed so that witness lines occur only in non-critical areas.
Step 3: Receive Quote
After your design is approved by the injection molder, you will receive a production quote from them. The quote should include all costs, including mold design and construction, other tooling costs, materials, and any additional services. You should expect to have a completed quote in-hand within two to three days once the part design has been finalized.
Step 4: DFMs Created
After a quote is delivered and a price agreed upon, the turnkey injection molding manufacturer will generate the required Designs for Manufacturing (DFMs) for the part, which usually takes about five days to produce. DFMs integrate the product design and manufacturing planning into one cohesive process. The DFM is then submitted to you for approval.
Step 5: Tooling Manufacture
With all of the approvals in place, your chosen turnkey injection molding manufacturer can begin tooling the molding. The mold tooling timeline varies depending on size and complexity of the product, but generally takes seven weeks or less.
Step 6: Samples Provided
T1 samples are made and provided by the injection molding manufacturer for your approval. If there are revisions, they are made and T2 samples are manufactured.
Step 7: Tools Shipped
Once T1 or T2 samples are approved, production can begin. In the case of large molds that are tooled overseas, they are shipped to Meridian’s Dallas, Texas facility. Shipment can take between five days and five weeks, depending on whether ocean or air transit is selected.
Step 8: Production Begins
With all necessary approvals sought and received, full scale production can begin. The design, approval, and tooling process generally takes between 8 and 10 weeks, at maximum.
Contact Gary Tanel at Electronic Alliance for more information and help in designing or manufacturing your product. He will help you and introduce you to key personnel at Meridian Products and 360 Tool & Design.