Ready to tool up! (There may be better options)

 So, you’ve gone through the product development process, and you’ve worked through idea to prototype until you’ve found a concept that works. The design has been built in CAD and the model has been engineered for mass manufacture.

You may ask yourself at this stage whether you really have to lay down expensive tooling costs to get your product off the ground. It may pay to think about small batch-manufacturing initially before committing to high investment tooling.

So, what is this more affordable or cost effective solution?

If you haven’t guessed already, it’s Vacuum Casting.

This small-scale production option can help you to assess the viability of your product upon entering the market. The parts will offer the same performance and you will also be able to assess any last-minute design amends which could future proof the design and save costs.

This is a low-risk approach when it comes to launching your product and can pay dividends in the future. Although the process is considerably slower, it is also far more affordable making it a sensible option before going down the route of high investment tooling.

 Features which may have been complex to mould or expensive to produce in injection moulding can otherwise be achieved through this process. Typically, we will receive a design and provide an overall assessment of the part(s). We will then go ahead, and 3D print the part on one of our in-house high resolution SLA 3D printers. The part(s) will then have to be post-processed which includes a shot blasting, priming and a filling procedure ensuring that there are no surface defects or imperfections.

 Once the parts have been checked we will conduct a dry build, if necessary. This is a final check ensuring that parts have not been affected by the printing procedure and that the parts within the configuration are sitting as they should. On completion of part inspection, we can then begin to design the tooling, this is a separate process to casting your part but a high quality, repeatable tool is key to great quality parts.

 Papa Bravo have invested in our very own in-house Vacuum casting system allowing us to produce, highly accurate, consistent resin or elastomer parts. We have a team on site who are ready to manage your project and guide you through the process. If you are looking for a low-risk, affordable approach to manufacturing your product idea this could be a great option.