There are several product types and there are also several forms of output size. Many industries tend to have lots of low volume production where the output units can be less than 1,000 per year. There is often, however, a certain factor that can alter the number of units produced in low-volume production.
The size of the machine, along with geometry and production factors, also influence the production rate. Depending on the market and the desired amount, the variation can also be seen from industry to industry.
Low volume production is a quick and precise way to produce a limited number of finished goods by manufacturing just as many units as are required. It is also one of the solutions recommended by individuals when optimizing the design of existing medical products.
When it comes to constructing prototypes, by using methods such as selective laser sintering and fused deposition modeling, individuals may assemble a working prototype without the need for costly tooling. As a one-off product, being able to manufacture a working prototype will potentially save time and costs because the product will undergo thorough testing.
Need for low volume manufacturing
There are periods and conditions where there might be a need for low volume production in different industries. Below, those cases are discussed:
- Pre high-volume production: there is often a step between the final and prototyping step before high volume production begins. This phase is a low volume development phase where the units are manufactured in lesser volume using the prototype hard tooling.
- Replacement or repair parts: there is typically a need for repair and replacement parts that are no longer made. Consequently, it is used to generate these unavailable pieces.
- Production parts: The low volume production process is completed sometime after the completion of the prototyping stage so that the manufactured parts are used as production tools.
Advantages of the low-volume manufacturing process
- Cost-effective: This helps to save production costs, which can be spent on manufacturing large quantities of goods if just a few thousand of them are required. This will avoid the lack of cash flow when required, especially in an industry where production is done by molding, casting, etc.
- Flexibility: Since it can pave the way for more flexibility, one of the key reasons why companies prefer to choose it. With the versatile volume of the batch, improvements can be made and new items can also be added to make the goods reliable and helpful in time without creating products with a design flaw. This will also allow us to reach the right market and will also help to build a market place for the product.
- Easy to clear the inventory: having large volumes of items ensures that the inventory will be increased and one will not be able to clear them out in time. The chances of clearing an ageing inventory can be much more difficult now that the demand has a propensity to change and new goods are created every day. However, the goods can be cleared out on the market in less time in low volume manufacturing.
- Mending defects: manufacturing a large number of units can be a major blowback and then finding that they have a fault and flaws. This is why low volume production ensures that the production units can be monitored and adjustments can also be made easily and the defects can be curbed in time so that huge inventory is filled with faulty or flawed products.
Based on comparing the desired de-sign attributes with the capabilities of a large number of processes, systematic procedures for process selection were established. Usually, the subset of feasible production processes is then categorized by economic criteria, after which a method is chosen and suitable detailed designs are produced. Such systems provide the inexperienced designer with some decision support, but often do not provide a high degree of fidelity about lead time and cost estimation.
Low Volume Manufacturing Service
In the manufacturing sector, low volume manufacturing is quickly gaining widespread acceptance. This fast and efficient process is one of the best options available to producers and suppliers looking to produce an on-demand quantity with more manageable prototyping costs.
Low volume development helps to resolve the extra expense that typically happens when professionals eventually need more copies of the prototype, unlike the situation with the prototyping of a single unit where most consumers need more copies for their testing or fund-raising. This way, the customers have a large number of units of their concept design to work with for alteration and perfection. Low volume manufacturing enables flexibility in demand and helps consumers beat the long processing period normally faced in manufacturing tools as well as the high cost of the instrument.
People will supply them with hundreds of thousands of parts via the low-volume production service so that they can get their product to the market. If they only need a few parts or prototypes, one of the quick prototyping services may want to consider them. At Start Prototyping, the organisation operates from prototyping to production at any step of the way.
Low Volume Manufacturing Cost
Low volume manufacturing has always been a cost-effective and useful way to manufacture large quantities of goods within a short period. When the tool has been manufactured and the manufacturing run has begun, it is possible to manufacture any number of products until no more is needed or the lifespan of the tool has been reached, which may equate to 10,000 plus shots for some materials.
As a manufacturing process, the low volume production market has traditionally bypassed injection moulding, because the initial cost of the instrument is so high that small volumes are economically unviable, or simply because 3D printing has become so widespread and cost-effective that it has rather stolen the thunder from injection moulding.
Nevertheless, for small lots at risk, ignore injection moulding, since it has now come into its own with a much better variety of materials than that available for 3D printing as a safe and inexpensive way of manufacturing small production runs.
