When design freedom = success
Doing what traditional manufacturing can’t
When a company’s success depends on its ability to rapidly customize, tooling can become the roadblock to
success due to the time to part and the cost to get there. Nova Tech Engineering, a producer of automated
machinery for use by poultry hatcheries worldwide, was okay with machined tools until they hit growth mode and
needed the ability to rapidly iterate. CNC machining, injection molding or RTV molded parts became prohibitively
expensive for the engineering firm due to the varying geometry of their products.
Certain complex parts can’t always be injection molded, and Nova Tech found the solution to this challenge in
3D printing. For example, the time and cost of creating 10 12-piece carrier assemblies was four weeks and nearly
$45,000. With 3D printing, these can be produced in three days at a cost of $1,500 – saving 89% and 97%
respectively.
For Nova Tech Engineering, the benefits of 3D printing
don’t stop there. “There are other advantages like digital
inventory of the CAD designs, reduced outsourcing,
just-in-time manufacturing, eliminated tooling cost, and
the ability to combine components,” says Rooney.
Nova Tech bought its first two Stratasys 3D Printers mainly
for prototyping. Following that purchase, the engineering firm
purchased another 3D printer for pre-production and manufacturing. “Today we use these printers for various
applications such as rapid prototyping, creating casting molds, thermoforming, jigs and fixtures and manufacturing
finished parts,” says Rooney.
How does AM compare to traditional methods for Nova Tech? |
Method |
Production Time |
Cost |
Injection Molding |
4 weeks |
$44,175 |
AM |
3 days |
$1,490 |
Savings |
25 days (89%) |
$42,685 (97%)
|