Design for the Factory From Day One
June 17, 2026
The most expensive mistake we see in hardware is a product that works great as a prototype and cannot be made at scale. A 3D printer will build almost anything. A factory will not.
Prototype freedom is a trap
When you prototype with printing, you can have undercuts, zero draft, wall thickness that changes everywhere, and internal features with no way to get a tool in or out. None of that matters until you send the files to an injection molder and get a quote back with a list of problems, or a price that kills the business.
What we design for early
- Draft angles. Molded parts need slight tapers so they release from the tool. Adding draft late changes the look and fit of everything around it.
- Consistent wall thickness. Thick and thin sections cool at different rates, which leads to sink marks and warping.
- Fewer parts. Every part is another tool, another supplier, and another step on the line. If two parts can be one, we try to make them one.
- Real tolerances. Drawings with tight tolerances everywhere are expensive. We call out GD&T where it matters and leave the rest alone.
- Standard hardware. A common screw from a catalog is cheaper and easier to source than a custom one.
Talk to the manufacturer before you are done
We like to get a manufacturer's eyes on a design before it is finished. They will tell you which features drive cost and which ones they can live with. A short call at the right moment can save weeks of back and forth later.
We do not run production in house, but we help clients find vetted partners and we talk to vendors directly so the drawings are understood. Half of the problems in production are communication problems.
The takeaway
Every design decision is also a manufacturing decision. Make those decisions on purpose, early, while they are still cheap to change.