Stealth Concept Pre-Production

Here is an example of a product we designed and packaged all the components for our client to build low-volume, pre-production assemblies to test the market and the product.  We can’t reveal exactly what it is, however it includes a sensor, a power inverter board, a control board, a solenoid valve, IP66 electrical connectors, a waterproof case, and assembles with just a single screw, perfect.  The design of the case was intended for either CNC machining or 3D printing during this phase per standard product development best practices.  Plastic Injection molding will be the final manufacturing process for production units, however, it is a grave mistake to try to produce injection molded cases early, unless you want to waste valuable money, time and resources.  Why? Plastic injection molding requires substantial upfront mold costs, tuning the design to avoid shrinkage issues, and there can’t be a single future revision change. Once the mold is machined, the design is set.  Sure, one can come back and cut out sections of the mold and insert new ones, anything is possible, it’s just very expensive and time-consuming. Hence, we wait for plastic injection molding until the product has been thoroughly market-tested, performance-tested and there is ultimate confidence in the final product design life to generate enough profits to cover development and production costs.