Multi-Process Manufacturing Helps Bring New Machinery to Market Faster
Polyverse Solutions develops compact, manually operated injection moulding machines for producing prototypes in-house. To create a machine capable of delivering precision, high pressure and repeatable performance, the team worked with Protolabs to source CNC-machined and turned components, metal 3D-printed parts, and custom mould tools through a single supplier.
Engineering Performance into a Compact Footprint
Polyverse Solutions was developing a compact, manually operated injection moulding machine that needed to deliver high pressure, precision and repeatable performance. The small-footprint machine incorporated a unique clamping mechanism and integrated fume extraction.
Bringing the design to life required precision CNC-machined and turned components, metal 3D-printed parts and custom mould tools. As a young engineering company, Polyverse Solutions needed to source this varied mix quickly without diverting time and resources away from product development. Conventional sourcing risked slowing down the project before production had even begun.
Faster Digital Quoting
Polyverse Solutions used Protolabs for the range of manufacturing technologies required across the machine and its moulds. The digital quoting platform also saved time with sourcing. Florian Mikl, Technical Manager and Co-founder of Polyverse Solutions explains:
“With conventional manufacturers, you have to wait two to three days to get a quote and a lead time. That was always the bottleneck, especially if the client is in a rush.”
The team could upload a completed mould design and receive pricing and lead-time information in seconds, rather than waiting days, or even weeks, for a conventional manufacturer to prepare a quote.
“Once we have developed a mould, we can directly upload it and get a price and the lead time immediately.”
Greater Manufacturing Flexibility
Access to CNC machining and metal additive manufacturing also gave Polyverse Solutions more options when designing and sourcing components. Metal 3D printing opened up additional possibilities for the machine, making it feasible to manufacture parts that the team had not previously considered using.
“I would never have imagined having metal 3D printed parts in a machine. But now with Protolabs, we have the possibility to do so at a reasonable price.”
More Focus on Engineering
By working with Protolabs across multiple manufacturing processes, Polyverse Solutions could place responsibility for component production with a single manufacturing partner. This allowed the team to spend less time coordinating suppliers and more time concentrating on product development and engineering.
“We have been able to focus on what we can do best, which is engineering, and let others focus on what they can do best, and that is manufacturing.”
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Key Results
- Immediate access to pricing and lead-time information
- One source for multiple manufacturing technologies
- Access to CNC machining and metal 3D printing
- Greater flexibility when designing complex components
- Cost-effective production of metal 3D-printed parts
- Less time spent sourcing and coordinating manufacturing
- More time for the Polyverse Solutions team to focus on engineering
Conclusion
Protolabs provided the manufacturing capabilities and responsive digital workflow Polyverse Solutions required to develop its compact injection moulding machine. By simplifying access to quotations, lead times and multiple production technologies, the partnership reduced sourcing bottlenecks and expanded the team’s design options. Polyverse Solutions could keep its attention on engineering while relying on Protolabs to manufacture the machine’s varied precision components and mould tools.