CNC machining at Roberson Machine Company is an integral part of many industries. After all, getting the high-quality parts and components your company needs quickly, accurately, and economically in unlimited amounts is tough to beat.
Businesses are often looking for ways to trim their budgets, and CNC machining cost is no exception. Call Roberson Machine Company today at 573-646-3996 or contact our knowledgeable staff online to find out how to tweak or revise your CNC designs to significantly reduce your costs. You can also get a free quote for your next CNC machining project.
Five Ways to Reduce Manufacturing Costs with CNC Machining at Roberson Machine Company
A few factors that impact manufacturing costs include machining time, start-up costs, and material costs. With every CNC machining project, our specialists work with you to find the best possible materials to use on the finest equipment available, to get you your parts in the shortest amount of time. They can discuss steps to ensure your design is optimized and significantly reduce your costs. Five of our specialists’ tips for reducing CNC machining costs include:
- Choose Cost-Effective Materials
- Machinability: Some materials – like polyurethane foam and wood – are much easier for CNC machines to work with, but don’t necessarily make the best material for parts. Check a material’s machinability rating prior to designing your part, as some metals and plastics require the machine to cut slower to avoid damage, which can increase costs.
- Material requirements: If you’re designing a crucial part, you may have no choice but to use more expensive materials, like aluminum or polycarbonate. However, if you’re designing a prototype you can use a cheaper material like foam or PVC.
- General availability: This is normally the biggest determinant for a material’s cost. If your material of choice is rare or isn’t available anywhere near your location, it may not be worth the price to ship it. But, this is where Roberson Machine Company’s central location is key, allowing for quick access to major markets.
- Eliminate Tricky Features
- Try to use rounded corners: When designing your part, the larger the internal radius of its corners the better. Tighter corners usually require speciality tools and more time to cut, resulting in higher costs.
- Avoid deep pockets: Deep pockets can have a negative impact on the cost of CNC machining. Removing material is time consuming and may require a special tool or cutter to reach the depth you want. Try to limit the depth of pockets in your design to four times the length of the part.
- Try a standard finish: Any smoothing or appearance-altering finishes cost extra, so try to use those only when necessary. Uniform or standard finishes work best for parts in larger production runs.
- Simplify the Setup Process
- Discuss Simplifying Designs With Our Specialists
- Order in Large Quantities
Before designing any part, you’re going to decide what material to make it from. This is the first, and probably easiest, way to reduce your overall cost. When choosing between multiple materials, there are a few things to consider, including:
It’s important to consider the capabilities and drawbacks of the CNC process while designing your part. While many design elements may be functionally necessary and unavoidable, you may find that slight alterations to your part can lead to significant savings in machining time and money. Here are a few things to consider eliminating if possible:
Give us a call right away at 573-646-3996 or reach out to us online.
It’s key to remember that only one side of your part can be cut by the machine at a time, which means it may be flipped and reset multiple times. Each time this happens could require a new setup, loading and unloading, and more, depending on the project and material. If you can figure a way to not have to alter one or two sides, you can drastically speed up the process.
Choosing the ideal design and material for the job also helps reduce manufacturing costs, as some materials require special tooling or cutting parameters. Standardizing designs in order to achieve the best manufacturing time per piece versus batch size ratio will quickly reduce costs. Our specialists can help in this regard, choosing the best design option in order to help lessen cycle times, minimize tool wear, and increase productivity.
The number of parts you order has an impact on the unit price. Utilizing the economies of scale can be a powerful tool, as can conferring with the Roberson Machine Company team, to figure out how to reduce costs. In some situations, increasing the quantity from 10 to 100 could reduce the unit price by more than 50 percent.
Five Ways to Reduce Manufacturing Costs with CNC Machining | Roberson Machine Company
If you are looking to cut manufacturing costs without cutting corners, CNC machining at Roberson Machine Company is the route to take. With over 20 years of experience in CNC machining and providing single-source manufacturing, we are the go-to option for all of your projects.
Call us right now at 573-646-3996 to discuss your next CNC manufacturing project, or reach out to us online.
