Design for manufacture for parts, fixtures and production equipment
Parts redesigned to cost less to make and to hold their shape through machining and finishing, with analysis showing that a change works before it reaches the shop floor.
Manufacturing problems are often blamed on the process when the cause sits in the design. When a fixture flexes under clamping, the part moves while it is cut. A thin part that is flat on the machine bed springs out of flat when it is unclamped, or after heat treatment or anodising. Tolerances drawn tighter than the function needs add operations and scrap that nobody traces back to the drawing.
More about manufacturing
A thin aluminium disc we investigated is a good example. Machined with a 1.2 mm web, it warped after machining and anodising. The likely cause was residual stress released unevenly as material came off, added to by heat from sealing after anodising, and the changes that address it cover the material, the machining, the fixturing and the finishing together.
Analysis helps most where a change alters a load path or removes material. FEA shows how fixtures, clamps and tooling deflect under clamping and cutting loads, and thermal studies show the gradients that heating, quenching and cooling create. The redesign then goes into a new drawing pack, with tolerances set by function and the manufacturing process written down for CNC machining, sheet metal, moulding or printing at the volume you run.
Typical work: thin machined and anodised components, machining fixtures and jigs, press tools and dies, moulds, sheet metal parts and special-purpose machines.
Production problems we help manufacturers with
Why does the part come off the machine out of flat?
How clamping, cutting loads and temperature deflect a part during machining and how it springs back when released, so fixturing and machining sequence can be changed.
Is the fixture stiff enough?
Deflection of fixtures, clamps and locators under clamping and cutting forces, set against the tolerance the part has to hold.
Can the part be made for less?
Design changes that remove operations, simplify fixturing or move to a cheaper process or material, with the effect on strength and stiffness shown before they are adopted.
Are the tolerances costing more than they should?
Tolerances reset so tight limits sit only on the features whose function needs them, with datums that match how the part is held and inspected.
Will heat treatment or finishing distort the part?
Temperature gradients during heating, quenching and cooling, and the stresses they create, compared across part geometries and the ways the part is supported.
Will the production machine or tool hold up?
Stress, fatigue and deflection of press frames, dies, rolls and handling equipment under the loads they see every shift.
Stages and studies most used in manufacturing
Detail & Simulation
Parts and tooling remodelled for the production route, with FEA or thermal studies where a change has to be shown to work before it is adopted.
Stress analysis
Deflection and stress in fixtures, clamps, tooling and machine frames, with contact at locators and clamp faces.
Thermal stress analysis
Stresses and distortion from heating, quenching, cooling and repeated thermal cycles.
Engineering Pack
Revised drawings with functional tolerances and the manufacturing process written down, ready for your own shop or a supplier.
Reverse engineering
Worn, obsolete or undocumented parts captured as CAD from 3D scans or measurement, and paper drawings converted, so the parts can be remade or improved.
Production
CNC machining, 3D printing, injection moulding and sheet metal fabrication from short runs to volume, with changes handled as production continues.
Before you start
What to send us
- CAD or drawings of the part, fixture, tool or equipment
- Clamping and cutting forces, or details of the machining set-up
- Process temperatures, times and how parts are cooled
- Material grade and condition
- The tolerances that matter, such as flatness or position
- Scrap rates or cost drivers, if cost reduction is the aim
Is this the same as factory simulation?
No. Factory or discrete-event simulation models throughput and layout. Our work is the design and engineering of the parts, tooling and equipment you produce with.
Can you model distortion after machining?
We can model how clamping, cutting loads and temperature deflect a part. Distortion from residual stress already in the stock depends on data that is rarely known, so there we compare geometry, material and support options that make the part less sensitive to it.
Does design for manufacture always need simulation?
No. Much cost reduction comes from design choices alone. Analysis earns its place when a change removes material or alters a load path and you need to know the part still performs.
Do you work on equipment you did not design?
Yes. Existing machines, fixtures and tools can be modelled from CAD, drawings, scans or measurements, and the modification designed from there.
Tell us what keeps going wrong in production
