As CNC machining is getting an increased reputation for its faster and accurate results in the manufacturing sector, manufacturers and business owners have more options to choose from for their custom rapid manufacturing requirements. As prototype manufacturing is a crucial phase for design validation and final product readiness, business owners have to find trusted prototype manufactures which can deliver custom prototypes with pinpoint accuracy, reasonable rates, and repeatability.
The best machine shops out there ensure that business owners and manufacturers get the best prototypes that help their businesses work with agility, smooth workflow, reduced scrap products and shortened lead manufacturing time. That said, here are a few key factors customers should consider while choosing the ideal machine shop.
Previous samples prove a shop’s excellence
Standing true to their claim of being among the best prototyping service in the market, leading machine shops allow customers and business owners to inspect their previous work samples. That is the practice of any product manufacturer that is proud of its product quality. This allows customers to witness the accuracy, attention to detail and the fine craftsmanship delivered to the products. Furthermore, viewing the work samples allows you to verify the company’s expertise in areas of your interest. Claiming the best quality and demonstrating it are two different areas. Understanding the quality requirements for different models is important on the manufacturer’s part. Appearance models have a different quality standard where the focus is on the product finish, surface texture, and other outward metrics while the structural models should excel in accuracy and dimensional precision. Previous samples allow the customer to inspect and validate these quality requirements.
Experience matters
Experience goes a long way in a customer’s decision to choose a machine shop. Experienced manufacturers generally understand the customer’s requirements more cleary and can add their own insight into product development. While CNC prototyping has gained popularity very recently, Wayken is not a new player in the market. For premium aluminum and plastic custom prototyping, experience and knowledge base are key. Wayken comes forth with 20 years’ experience in this regard which ensures that from simple designs to the processing of the most complex ones, our experts are ready to serve the customer.
Your projects can be as flexible as you want
One of the main issues with many CNC machine shops is that they have expertise in a select area while lacking the required machinery in others. Often the limitations arise with the machinists because they can’t operate certain machines. This affects the project flexibility and the customer might end up jumping from one shop to the other in the search for the best product. So to avoid this hassle, in-house skilled machinists with years of experience with diverse machinery at their disposal is the ideal choice for customers and that is what you should look for while choosing a machine shop. From small prototyping to large scale production, quality machine shops have got it all covered with the help of different size runs and an assortment of materials.
Latest technology results in better products
While the newest isn’t always the best, all the fine machine shops have a combination of the lastest and traditional technologies at their disposal for the completion of versatile projects simultaneously. The delivery of a wide range of services isn’t possible without a diverse technology base and a set of machines to deliver those services. It is ensured that the best technology at the company’s disposal is used to machine your metal and plastic prototypes. Inspection of machines before order placement also gives confidence to the customers that the best kind of equipment is available to work on his project.
Look for long-term value for your products
Placing orders for your projects in any machine shop means an investment of time and resources on your part. A quality machine shop should make your resource and time worth the investment. Selecting a machine shop merely because of the low price is a waste of both resources and time because the resources and time you might be trying to save initially can come back to haunt you when you have to replace or improve those cheap quality products you obtained the first time. No doubt price is a main consideration for customers but there’s always an even lower price somewhere out there which comes with an even lower quality profile. The best machine shop, therefore, provides value for your time and resources by avoiding mistakes and poor quality final products so that you don’t have to visit the shop again and reinvest in product improvement. You should choose companies that ensure that you get a long term value for your resources and incremental results for your investment.
Good communication benefits the customer
Communication between the customer and the product developers is one of the core requirements of every successful project. The product specifications, materials, and parts are of such nature that they can evolve continuously owing to changing requirements, specifications and design/materials. Continuous communication between the customer and clients ensures that these changes/improvements are always accommodated in the workflow in a timely manner.
Successful manufacturers believe that this communication is very vital to successful project delivery and the customer should always be facilitated to operate with their preferred channel of communication. Furthermore, the capability of different machine parts in the technology chain should be made clear to the customers. In addition, a dedicated focal/contact person plays a big role in understanding and implementing evolving customer demands. Not only that, the experts in the machine shops can always contribute to providing such insights into the client’s project which can provide increased value for money.
Product quality control is key
All clients which approach a precision machine shop are extra cautious about the product quality, precision, and finish. Therefore the shop they approach must demonstrate a proven quality control record and capabilities. Qualified staff should always be ready to engage clients about the existing and emerging quality standards and how their firm ensures their incorporation in the projects.
Choose a company that is always improving!
While taking the crucial decision of choosing a machine shop, the ideal choice is to go with the one which is always evolving, improving and trying to lead in incorporating contemporary industrial standards. This commitment to incessant improvement allows CNC machine shops to be market leaders and trusted custom prototype manufacturers in their area of operation. WayKen Rapid is always improving to make prototype parts or machined parts as you request.
