Products businesses all over the world are looking at low-volume manufacturers to bridge the gap between concept and mass production. Low-volume manufacturing the increasing adoption of 3D printing solutions for rapid prototyping, and the manufacturing of customized parts, and complex designs with minimal tooling costs are taking prominence. Companies in the automotive, healthcare, aerospace, and consumer electronics space are now looking at low-volume manufacturing to fill the gap between prototyping and full-scale production, ensuring a faster time-to-market.
However, it requires a careful selection of the right low-volume manufacturing supplier to ensure that your prototypes and small-batch products are delivered with precise tolerances, meet exact material specifications, and are produced within optimal lead times, while maintaining cost efficiency and quality standards. In this blog, we highlight the top 12 ways in which you can choose a low-volume manufacturer for your business.
12 Ways to Select the Best Low-Volume Manufacturing Supplier
Choosing a low-volume manufacturing supplier isn’t limited to checking basic capabilities, expertise, and past work. A low-volume manufacturer must exhibit exceptional advancements in processes, technology use, and manufacturing capabilities so that the prototypes and products shine in the competitive market.
1. Check the Production Capacity
Even though low-volume production is a small-batch manufacturing method, there isn’t a set limit to the number of products that can be developed and low-volume production can mean 100 for some manufacturers while 10,000 for others. Hence, it’s essential to check how many minimum production runs are possible, the production capacity of the low-volume manufacturing supplier, their capabilities to deliver the minimum order quantity (MOQ), and if they allow trial production runs and can deliver prototype-friendly manufacturing.
2. Understand Design and Production Flexibility
Collaborate with low-volume manufacturing suppliers with flexible manufacturing systems, agile production, and customizable design capabilities. Choosing low-volume manufacturers that have an iterative design process adds flexibility and enables rapid prototyping and production. Check if the low-volume manufacturers have adaptive workflows, dynamic manufacturing setups, and reconfigurable assembly lines, and have the flexibility for on-demand production adjustments whenever needed.
3. Monitor the Level of Customization Delivered
Pay special attention to the low-volume manufacturers who can develop fully customized parts and unique products with bespoke designs. Check their ability to develop custom molds for product personalization. It is essential to select low-volume manufacturing suppliers that can deliver user-centric designs according to your custom specifications, and achieve end-to-end customization using product-specific tooling,
4. Check Access to Advanced Manufacturing Technologies
Low-volume production is preferred to help develop complex and customized products and the contract manufacturer must use most of the next-gen manufacturing tools and advanced manufacturing technologies like additive manufacturing processes and 3D printing solutions, precision injection molding, and advanced CNC machining. Check the experience of the manufacturers in multi-material prototyping and proficiency with hybrid manufacturing technologies. Low-volume manufacturers that have digital production workflows, and automated manufacturing systems with cutting-edge robotics enable quality products with faster time to markets.
5. Assess the Level of Innovation Adopted
If you are looking for innovative product designs with innovative materials, it’s best to work with low-volume manufacturers who use advanced prototyping and creative manufacturing methods. Collaborate with expert low-volume manufacturers like Cubein who lead the way with forward-thinking engineering, and advanced design-to-production innovations and couple them with technological advancements groundbreaking 3D printing solutions, and smart manufacturing systems.
6. Check the Types of Low-Volume Manufacturing Methods they Provide
Select low-volume manufacturers with multi-process capabilities and employ diverse manufacturing techniques and hybrid low-volume processes for short-run manufacturing. Manufacturers that have the capabilities to work with multi-material production and have versatile assembly lines will help you with your pilot production using modular manufacturing systems. At Cubein we have niche production solutions and capabilities that help businesses realize bridge-to-mass manufacturing.
7. Examine their Experience with Diverse Industries
Manufacturers with multi-industry expertise and diverse application knowledge can provide you with unique suggestions and recommendations that come with experience. At Cubein we have extensive automotive manufacturing expertise, low-volume manufacturing experience with healthcare, and have worked on consumer goods production. Additionally, we have helped diverse industries with our specialized industry focus and manufactured one of its kind innovative products including aerospace prototypes, electronics assembly, and cross-sector production.
8. Investigate if they Follow Rigorous Quality Control Processes
Quality is an aspect that continues to take center stage and selecting a low-volume manufacturer that has stringent quality assurance checks ensures that your product is top-notch. Partner with low-volume manufacturers who commit to zero-defect manufacturing, and follow ISO 9001 certified processes. Check if the manufacturers have automated in-process inspections adhere to precision quality checks, and rigorous testing standards, have defect-free production systems, and provide end-product validation.
9. Study if they Offer Competitive Pricing
Low-volume production requires the designing of products or prototypes with complex designs which may shoot up the tooling costs. Ensure that the contract manufacturers you intend to team up with have cost-effective production methodologies and plans in place to avoid huge expenses. Prefer low-volume manufacturers like Cubein who provide value-driven solutions with transparent pricing models and competitive cost structures,
10. Inspect the Availability of Skilled Labor
Though automation and technological innovation are the most essential skills but availability of highly trained technicians and expert machine operators can make the machines work wot deliver the best results. At Cubein we have a team of experienced engineers, industry-certified professionals, and a skilled production workforce who bring their technical expertise and engineering know-how to deliver precision products to the fore.
11. Understand their Ability to Handle Varied Project Materials
One of the key aspects that is often overlooked when selecting a low-volume manufacturer is the experience of working with different types of materials. Each material has different properties and this is where multi-material expertise can be the key determiner. Your low-volume manufacturers must be able to deliver material-grade customization and experience in working with advanced polymers, metals, and alloys.
12. Check Design Expertise and Capabilities
Reduce the chances of going wrong with your products and incurring huge expenses by choosing a low-volume manufacturer who has strong expertise in design optimization and knowledge of design feasibility analysis. At Cubein we provide tooling design assistance and take part in collaborative design processes, product design validation, design-to-production assistance, and refine prototypes so that you can achieve the best from your product.
Wrapping Up
Companies in commercial aerospace, automotive, etc are looking at the manufacturing of low-volume products as a way to produce and manufacture high-complexity products that can help build better end products. Partnership with the right low-volume manufacturer can act as a bridge to expedite their journey of transitioning from low-volume manufacturing to large-scale production and scaling. Hence businesses need to look at the aspects mentioned above to select a low-volume manufacturer that delivers value.
At Cubein, we work with businesses and bring our expertise in precision 3D printing, advanced injection molding techniques, CNC machining, and low-volume manufacturing to deliver unique products and prototypes with intricate geometries, multi-material capabilities, and unmatched dimensional accuracy.
Connect with us today to launch complex, market-ready designs and establish a formidable presence in highly competitive industries.
