Convenience comes with a tradeoff. Living in the Amazon age, where everything you need is just a few clicks away, definitely has its advantages, but when it comes to ordering custom manufactured and prototype parts, convenience can turn into a liability.
Have you ever wondered why the parts you order through automated on-line portals never quite match the CAD files and drawings you uploaded? There is a reason for it, well, several reasons actually, so read on as we unweave the rainbow and tell you how you can get your parts made to your specifications every time.
Engineers are increasingly turning to online portals that offer real-time quotes and parts delivered to their doorstep in just a few days. CNC machining, sheet metal as well as 3D printed parts, both plastics, and metals, are the most common fabrication methods used today.
Many of these on-line hubs do not actually manufacture any parts at all. They’re merely aggregators posting your files for numerous machine shops and sheet metal houses to bid on, then assigning your job to the lowest bidder. Not only are you paying a premium to a middleman but you are exposing potentially confidential files to several outlets that are under no agreement to keep the files or any intellectual property they contain safe.
It’s a troubling arrangement for nearly all involved— with the exception of the online hub taking their hefty mark-up— the mechanical engineer exposes their designs to an open forum and cannot track parts back to the original source, while the manufacturer that won the bid is obligated to make the part at a reduced margin. Corners have to be cut and as more and more shops compete for these jobs, quality and consistency decline as manufacturers find themselves trying to make parts on razor-thin margins. Margins so thin in fact, it will eventually force some out of business entirely.
Turning our attention to the automated quoting and manufacturing vendors that actually make their own parts.
The most common reason your part was not made to size, lacks critical features, was made from the wrong materials, or is not made to your specific dimensional tolerances is the automated quote sites have a “take it or leave it” approach. The machines are set up with standard tooling to make parts in standard sizes from only a handful of available materials. If your part can’t be made with standard tools that are already on the machine, or if your part falls outside their standard size, you’re not getting the part made to your design.
This puts mechanical engineers in a tough position. The purpose of rapid prototyping is to evaluate form, fit, and function. You can’t very well do that when all the holes aren’t drilled and heli-coils/PEM inserts aren’t even an option. If your part is simple, not tightly toleranced, and requires little to no secondary processes, then an on-line manufacturer may be right for you.
However, if your requirements are a little more particular then Metal Works, Inc. is the rapid prototyping shop for you. At Metal Works, Inc., a real person reviews all your CAD files and drawings and evaluates them for manufacturability. Get all the complex features, formations, and secondary finishing process you need and get parts in your hands in as little as 1 -3 days!
