The Upload

You know about black swan events: those unpredictable forces that can lead to potentially devastating consequences. They’ve been swooping in with disturbing regularity. Past trade wars with and tariffs on China. The lingering pandemic. The stuck container ship blocking the Suez Canal. Clogged ports. Container shortages. Trucker shortages. Geopolitical uncertainty including Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Surging inflation. Ongoing natural disasters and climate-change factors.

When comparing potential manufacturing processes against criteria like price and lead-time, there are many things to keep in mind. Different processes require different processing times, different types of materials, and most likely, different part design requirements and considerations. Today, we’re going to cover part design cost drivers.

A game-changing innovation race with high market-share stakes is taking place in the automotive sector these days as the industry makes a quantum shift from internal combustion engines (ICEs) to electric vehicles.

Often, injection molding is considered the most cost-effective production option for SKUs with estimated annual usage in the low-thousands for volume. It comes down to economies of scale—you just set up once to run tens or hundreds of thousands of parts. The highest volumes often bring you the lowest per unit price tags. But, the production setting also typically carries something else with it if you’re thoughtful—cost control, and lots of it.

Electric vehicles and the companies that make them are no longer hidden under a veil of secrecy, conducting business in non-descript warehouses up and down the coasts. We’re now in a full on race to develop the best tech possible, put it into EVs, and ultimately deliver them to the masses.