How to Reduce the Cost of Custom Machined Parts

As technologies advance across industries, the demand for custom machined components has exploded worldwide. Indeed, custom, precision-manufactured parts are critical to industries ranging from industrial automation to automotive and aerospace, and this has presented an array of interesting challenges to manufacturers and parts suppliers alike. Key among these challenges is how to make technological innovations financially viable by pairing improvements in customization with decreases in production costs.

Factors that Impact the Cost of Machined Components

It’s important to understand what drives the cost of machined parts before developing a strategy to reduce production prices. Key factors include:

Part Size & Material

These are the most obvious factors affecting the cost of precision-machined components. As part size increases, so do material requirements. Plus, larger components will typically require more equipment setup, which can also drive up costs.

Material selection is also a significant consideration. It may seem clear that certain materials are more costly than others. However, costs can also be driven by the challenges associated with machining the material.

Part Design & Dimensions

The complexity of a part’s design has a direct impact on the time required to prototype and machine it. Complex parts often need to be machined and reset to achieve the desired dimensions. Tighter tolerances will also drive up costs.

Advances in precision machining technologies, such as the advent of 5-axis CNC machines, have significantly reduced the cost of such parts; however, complexity is still a major factor in determining production prices.

Keys to Reducing the Cost of Machined Parts

If you’re a manufacturer looking to reduce the cost of custom machined parts, the following tips might help:

• Avoid demanding tolerances that are significantly tighter than what is necessary.
• Standardize your part design, when possible, to prevent unnecessary prototyping and machine setup time.
• Order in larger quantities to drive down the cost of individual machined parts.

Reducing the cost of custom machined parts requires a complete overview of the manufacturing and parts production process. As such, the best way to save on the cost of parts is to partner with a company that is capable of customizing production to your exact needs.

Quality Tool—Delivering Custom Machined Parts at the Lowest Cost

As an affiliate of Demmer Manufacturing, Quality Tool has been a trusted provider of custom metal fabrication solutions for the medical, specialty electronics, industrial, and defense industries since 1959. Since its founding, Quality Tool has maintained a culture of continuous improvement and operates out of multiple facilities totaling more than 150,000 square feet of production space.

Quality Tool has managed to design production programs to significantly reduce the cost of custom bus bars, sheet metal, CNC machined parts, stamped metal parts, mechanical assemblies, and more. To provide high-quality, tight-tolerance components in a variety of quantities at the lowest cost, Quality Tool relies on in-house tooling capabilities as well as engineering and manufacturing processes that are fully customized, integrated, and optimized to meet highly specific criteria.

For more information about how Quality Tool can help lower the cost of your custom machined parts, visit the company’s website today.