Presswork is an increasingly complicated business.
It's no longer a case of simply pressing an outline into metal and producing a ready-made cast.
Instead, businesses are seeking sophisticated designs that require several stages of production from prototypes to tooling, electroplating and assembly.
It makes sense, therefore, to consider turning to a 'one-stop shop' to take care of the whole process, from start to finish, on your behalf.
Specialists in presswork have a thorough knowledge of the pressing process, often developed over many years' experience.
By consulting them at the very early stages of manufacture, they will be able to guide you on the optimal design for your product using advanced quality planning techniques such as PPAP (Production Part Approval Process) and keeping material costs to a minimum.
Using state-of-the-art Solid Works 3D CAD software, they will then produce a prototype of your design to ensure that it fulfills the criteria and, most importantly, is best suited to the job you have in mind.
Once the prototype has been agreed, the specialist pressings manufacturer will work with you on other aspects of the production process including tooling and assembly.
You should ensure that the specialist you are talking to has access to high tech manufacturing techniques such as JIT (Just in Time) and VMI (Vendor Managed Inventory) to match production to actual orders and cope with fast turnarounds and/or reduced batch sizes.
Next comes the actual plating process but, before you reach this stage, you should confirm that your preferred specialist can provide plating in-house.
If so, he or she will then give you a choice of the type of finish you would like -- usually, you can choose from electro plating, nickel plating or copper plating, using both barrel and vat processes.
The final stage, or finishing, should also be available in a variety of materials -- as well as metal, this could include painting, powder coating and anodising.
You may also opt for your chosen specialist to assemble your plated product, or selected parts of it, at low risk to you and a cost-effective rate.
So, even though presswork is far from a straightforward process, it should be relatively stress-free if you take care in choosing the right specialist to guide you through.
It's no longer a case of simply pressing an outline into metal and producing a ready-made cast.
Instead, businesses are seeking sophisticated designs that require several stages of production from prototypes to tooling, electroplating and assembly.
It makes sense, therefore, to consider turning to a 'one-stop shop' to take care of the whole process, from start to finish, on your behalf.
Specialists in presswork have a thorough knowledge of the pressing process, often developed over many years' experience.
By consulting them at the very early stages of manufacture, they will be able to guide you on the optimal design for your product using advanced quality planning techniques such as PPAP (Production Part Approval Process) and keeping material costs to a minimum.
Using state-of-the-art Solid Works 3D CAD software, they will then produce a prototype of your design to ensure that it fulfills the criteria and, most importantly, is best suited to the job you have in mind.
Once the prototype has been agreed, the specialist pressings manufacturer will work with you on other aspects of the production process including tooling and assembly.
You should ensure that the specialist you are talking to has access to high tech manufacturing techniques such as JIT (Just in Time) and VMI (Vendor Managed Inventory) to match production to actual orders and cope with fast turnarounds and/or reduced batch sizes.
Next comes the actual plating process but, before you reach this stage, you should confirm that your preferred specialist can provide plating in-house.
If so, he or she will then give you a choice of the type of finish you would like -- usually, you can choose from electro plating, nickel plating or copper plating, using both barrel and vat processes.
The final stage, or finishing, should also be available in a variety of materials -- as well as metal, this could include painting, powder coating and anodising.
You may also opt for your chosen specialist to assemble your plated product, or selected parts of it, at low risk to you and a cost-effective rate.
So, even though presswork is far from a straightforward process, it should be relatively stress-free if you take care in choosing the right specialist to guide you through.
Source...