Thanks to the current availability of low-volume manufacturing, many small-to-medium sized businesses are seeking CNC machined parts. While this is an excellent way to bring products to market more quickly and facilitate design flexibility, there are of course caveats to consider. Namely, you will need to verify that proper quality control measures are in place. To that end, before deciding on a manufacturer, you should make sure to ask the following questions:
1. May I take a tour of the manufacturing floor?
Transparency is integral in any business relationship, and it’s especially important when dealing with a manufacturer of CNC machined parts. If a manufacturing company refuses to let you tour their manufacturing floor, you should take that as a bad sign.
If you are permitted to tour the manufacturing floor, look for the following qualities: The floor should be organised and equipped with the latest technology. Ideally, you should also be granted access to records proving the certification level of employees.
2. Will you assist me in optimising my CAD designs?
Having the aid of a team of engineers is invaluable when producing CNC machined parts. Your chosen manufacturing firm should be willing to verify that you have chosen the right manufacturing process for your design. They should also help you to make any adjustments necessary to optimise your design for manufacturing, e.g. suggest ways in which you could manufacture your product more efficiently without sacrificing quality.
3. Tell me how you test your materials?
It’s important to find out where a manufacturing firm sources their materials from as the quality of raw materials is not consistent from nation to nation. Ask to be provided with the website or physical address of the company’s materials provider so that you may confirm they are indeed the supplier. You should also find out how the manufacturing firm verifies the quality of the raw materials they use to produce CNC machined parts (and 3D printed parts, if applicable), i.e., what material identification tools they use.
4. How do you measure finished parts to ensure precision?
Obviously, you need your finished product to match the original specifications set out in your design. You should therefore choose a manufacturing firm that uses sophisticated equipment, such as laser scanners and/or coordinate measuring machines, to measure geometrically complex parts and ensure that they are in every way accurate. Any experienced, reputable manufacturer of CNC machined parts should have such equipment in-house as precision is so integral to subtractive manufacturing. (Note that in order to avoid temperature-related size variations, all measuring tools should be located in a temperature-controlled environment.)
If a manufacturing firm gives you helpful, informative, and succinct answers to the four questions above, it’s highly likely that they will be excellent to work with. Remember, your manufacturer is far more than someone you send your designs away to in the hope of receiving finished parts—they’re a valuable part of your extended business team and should function as such.
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