The research and development (R&D) process for manufacturing mission-critical aerospace, medtech, defense, high-tech, or space exploration components can be costlier than expected without the right resources and strategy. This post will outline several ways to prevent expensive delays and redesigns in the R&D phase to keep your project on track and within budget, including:
- Engage a single-source component manufacturer to eliminate inefficiencies
- Seek a dedicated R&D lab to receive access to all the resources needed for success
- Work with design for manufacturing (DFM) experts to ensure your part is optimally designed
- Consider rapid prototyping to streamline design, development, and testing
Continue reading to learn more about these tips for preventing unexpected manufacturing R&D costs on your next mission-critical component manufacturing project.
Engage a single-source component manufacturer
Engaging a full-service single-source component manufacturer can help you avoid the hidden costs of managing multiple vendors, helping to take your project from R&D to full production without skipping a beat. Single-source manufacturers, like KMM, offer almost all of critical operations required under one roof to help including:
- Custom tooling and fixtures
- Other essential manufacturing services
With a single-source manufacturer, you can enjoy a smoother project management experience, greater accountability, enhanced design optimization, and increased accuracy.
Seek a dedicated R&D lab
Nothing can be more frustrating than enduring unexpected and expensive R&D delays with a manufacturer without a dedicated lab with resources to advance your innovation from concept to completion time-efficiently. However, with access to a full lineup of dedicated state-of-the-art R&D equipment, an ISO class 8 cleanroom if required, and a team of manufacturing experts ready to help expedite your project timeline, the R&D phase will progress quicker and more efficiently to prevent unexpected costs.
Work with DFM experts
Working with a mission-critical component manufacturer specializing in design for manufacturing (DFM) is another way to help prevent unexpected R&D costs. This cross-functional discipline involves engineers, designers, technical developers, production experts, and others to ensure a component is optimally designed for manufacturing. DFM helps dodge surprise costs once production begins by catching design flaws or inaccuracies, enhancing accuracy and precision, and improving production efficiency for a shorter new product development cycle.
Consider rapid prototyping
Rapid prototyping uses sophisticated technologies like CAD and 3D printing (additive manufacturing) to quickly convert your engineering drawings into high- or low-fidelity prototypes, reducing the time and costs associated with design, development, and testing.
A few of the time- and cost-saving benefits of rapid prototyping include:
- The ability to validate and enhance your designs and concepts early
- Perform functionality testing before proceeding to full production
- Elicit faster feedback for a speedier R&D process
However, the most valuable advantage of rapid prototyping is that it’s an effective R&D strategy even for challenging parts with ultra-tight tolerances, difficult materials, and complex designs, making it an essential cost-saving R&D tool for many applications.
There are many ways to prevent headaches from incurring unexpected costs during the manufacturing R&D phase, including those we’ve explained in this post. Contact our team to discover other strategies and resources to help keep your mission-critical project on track. With a combined 100-year history of bringing innovations to life, we have the technologies, perseverance, and skills to help you achieve the impossible – and protect your bottom line.
