The First 10% of Design Locks in 70–80% of Manufacturing Cost Many organizations focus heavily on reducing manufacturing costs after production begins, but by then most opportunities have already disappeared. Industry experience consistently shows that the earli... Jul 7, 2026 Design for Additive Manufacturing
Don’t Let the Toolmaker Decide Where the Flash Goes Every molded component requires a parting line, but where that line is located should always be a design decision, not a manufacturing assumption. If engineers fail to specify the desired parting line... Jul 7, 2026 Design for Additive Manufacturing
The T0 Triage: Evaluating the First Shots Without Overreacting to Cosmetic Flaws The first shots from a new production tool, commonly known as T0 samples, are intended to validate the process, not to represent final production quality. Yet many projects lose valuable time because ... Jul 7, 2026 Repeatability and Process Control
Myth: Simulation Is an “Extra” Cost. Fact: Simulation Is an Insurance Policy Against a $50,000 “Oops” in the Tool Shop. Engineering simulation is sometimes viewed as an optional expense that can be skipped to accelerate development or reduce upfront costs. In reality, simulation is one of the least expensive ways to pr... Jul 1, 2026 Repeatability and Process Control
The Silent Killer: How a 0.5 mm Tolerance Creep in a Sub-Component Led to a 15% Field Failure Rate Most field failures are not caused by catastrophic design errors, they result from small dimensional variations that accumulate throughout an assembly. In one manufacturing program, engineers traced a... Jul 1, 2026 Repeatability and Process Control
Designing in a Vacuum: Creating CAD Without Knowing the Specific Machine or Press Size the Part Will Run On A CAD model can be geometrically perfect and still be impossible, or unnecessarily expensive, to manufacture if it is designed without considering the equipment that will produce it. Every manufacturi... Jul 1, 2026 Design for Additive Manufacturing
Draft Is a Budget Item Draft angles are often viewed as a purely manufacturing requirement, but their impact extends far beyond tool design. In high-volume production environments, even small changes to draft geometry can s... Jun 23, 2026 Industrial Applications & Use Cases
Call Out Media-Blast vs As-Printed on the Drawing In additive manufacturing, surface finish requirements should never be left open to interpretation. A single component may contain cosmetic surfaces, sealing interfaces, functional features, and non-c... Jun 23, 2026 Design for Additive Manufacturing
Build Report Basics: What We Share After a Successful Run A successful metal additive manufacturing build is more than a finished part, it is a complete record of the process that created it. Every production run generates valuable information, from machine ... Jun 23, 2026 Repeatability and Process Control
Myth: Post-Processing Is Optional for Production Parts A common misconception in additive manufacturing is that the printed part is the finished part. While additive manufacturing can produce highly complex geometries directly from CAD, most production, g... Jun 16, 2026 Post-Processing & Reliability
Wear-Resistant Nozzle: Printed Core + Coating Extends Life Industrial nozzles operate in some of the harshest environments found in manufacturing. Applications involving mining, abrasive slurries, thermal spraying, material jetting, and high-velocity particul... Jun 16, 2026 Industrial Applications & Use Cases
Forgetting Material Certs and Heat-Treat Callouts in the PO A purchase order is more than a request to manufacture a part, it is a critical communication document that defines exactly what must be delivered. One of the most common sourcing mistakes is failing ... Jun 16, 2026 Repeatability and Process Control