When you aren’t making your products in high-volume production batches, you have much more design flexibility to change different parts of your product design, or offer different customization options to your customers. This allows you to have more freedom over the product and create the best product to secure your market share rather than a full-scale production.

That’s where Amper comes in.  Amper is a factory operating system that helps you get control over your operations and automates essential business functions. Amper helps your business run smarter with metrics, KPIs, and real-time data in manufacturing analysis solutions. Schedule a demo with us and get started today to learn more about what Amper can do for you.

High-volume manufacturing that produces many units takes time to accomplish, even on the best equipment. This means that the time to market can extend for large-scale products, meaning you spend your time catching up instead of leading the way. With low-volume manufacturing, businesses can go to market quickly and introduce their products before competitors can.

Low-volume manufacturing can help manufacturing organizations keep costs in mind and focus their production on smaller volumes and batches of finished goods. In this article, we’ll go over what low-volume manufacturing is, what types there are, and why it’s benefits.

CNC machining uses software to input a pre-planned program that directs the movement of the tools and machinery within the equipment. CNC machining software can create complex products with three-dimensional cutting and forming by using directives and prompts.

Get It Made was founded in 2011 with a mission to make manufacturing simple. Based in London, UK, Get It Made provides outstanding manufacturing services to companies across the globe.

In general, injection moulding tooling can cost from £2k to £100k. Costs for moulded parts can range from a few pence to a hundreds of pounds each.

Aluminium extrusion is ideal for both single prototypes and large-scale production, offering bespoke, high-standard, consistent cross-sectional profiles.

Low-volume manufacturing has many benefits that can appeal to customers. However, inconsistent demand and changing requirements can make it difficult to run your factory as efficiently as possible.

Injection molding processes are production processes that use a custom mold to produce products based on a project’s individual specifications. Raw material is picked for the product, heated to a liquid state, then poured into the mold cavity. Once the material has cooled inside the mold, it is opened, ejected, and processed for shipping. Meanwhile, the mold is reused to create a new product.

Because many industries have learned that low-volume production allows them to go to market faster, it is becoming more prevalent in factories and, therefore, is important for you to consider. It allows brands to change their designs, offer more customization, and decrease overhead costs.

Ready to see how much your part costs to manufacture? Request a free Injection moulding quote today, and one of our engineers will review your project within 24 hours.

Request your free injection moulding quote today and one of our engineers will personally review your project within 24 hours. They will then help fine-tune your project to make sure you get the best possible price and lead time for your injection moulding project.

Optimised for mass production of plastic items, our services in Plastic Injection Moulding are backed by deep expertise and industry-leading knowledge.

When comparing the three materials, the data shows that ABS is the cheapest material to manufacture with, and polycarbonate is the most expensive. The lead time only increases by a few days going from 500x to 50,000x. This is because the bulk of the lead time for an injection moulding project is manufacturing the mould and sampling. Once the mould produces parts to specification, part production is very fast.

Below is a cost comparison between Nylon, ABS and Polycarbonate (PC) for a complex injection moulded part. There is also a comparison of how the price and lead time change according to the number of parts ordered.

Another benefit of low-volume manufacturing is the money you can save. Especially for plastic injection molding and pressure die-casting jobs, there are much lower overhead costs to consider for tooling, materials, and labor. Over time, low-volume manufacturing can save your business more money for certain products than producing in high volume could.

Below is a cost comparison between Nylon, ABS and Polycarbonate (PC) for a simple injection moulded part. The table/graph also compares how the number of parts ordered affects the price and lead time.

Our 3D printing solutions cater to personalised needs with a diverse range of materials and colour options, perfect for intricate plastic components and small batches.

However, once you have the moulding tool, the plastic moulded parts will have a very low unit cost. And the tooling is usually CNC machined from a high quality steel, allowing more than one production run using the same tool, so it will last many years.

It is still true that high-volume manufacturing has many benefits for businesses who need to produce higher volumes of product and don’t have the option of producing smaller batches. However, there are four major benefits to consider with low-volume manufacturing and product development.

The data again indicates that ABS is the most cost-effective to manufacture in out of the three materials, while polycarbonate is the most expensive. With an increase in quantity from 500x to 50,000x, the lead time only increases by a few days. This is primarily because most of the lead time in an injection moulding project is manufacturing the mould and sampling. Once the mould successfully produces parts to the desired specifications, the parts can be produced rapidly.

3D printing and manufacturing is great for products that need to be under a certain weight, as these processes can create very complex and delicate parts. It also uses less labor than traditional machining for mass production and has nearly unlimited customization and design freedom for different goods.

If you want to know more about materials options for your injection moulding project, read our article about choosing the right Injection Moulding material.

For Nylon, going from quantity of 500x to 5000x has a 88% total cost per part saving for a simple injection moulded part. For volumes around 500x and below, it can often be cheaper to CNC machine or 3D Print the parts depending on the design. This is because the high tooling costs are spread over a smaller number of parts, making each part more expensive. Going from 5000x to 50,000x sees an additional cost saving of 9%. This demonstrates how increasing the part quantity significantly reduces part cost for smaller volume orders. However, as the order quantity increases, the reduction in unit price becomes less but still significant.

The data shows a slightly different trend for a larger, more complex injection moulded part than the simple/smaller one analysed above. There is a saving of 79% going from 500x to 5000x in nylon and a further 12% going up to 50,000x. This shows that there are still substantial cost savings in manufacturing into the high thousands for larger, more complex parts. The price for 500x is comparable to 3D Printing as the tooling cost is a relatively smaller proportion of the unit cost than the small/simple injection moulded part.

With many years of experience, sheet metal parts can be a great low-cost option for certain high and low-volume applications.

3D printing, which is sometimes referred to as additive manufacturing processes, uses the layering of raw materials to create products. Using CAD software, a designer creates a design, and then the software builds it. The software builds the design by building layers on top of each other using the machine's instructions. The process repeats after each product is built.

Tooling is often a key part of the economics in plastic injection moulding, this is because it is a large up-front investment. And this cost needs to be amortised into expected part volume, over a number of years. If injection moulding isn't suitable, it is very possible 3D Printing or CNC Machining could be a better option. Depending on the parts' features, the machining of a complex mould will require more time and expense, increasing the upfront costs of the project. This is the main reason why injection moulding is mainly used for high volumes.

Low-volume manufacturing is the prototyping of goods and products in small volumes. Hybrid techniques that combine additive and traditional manufacturing elements help reduce the overhead costs of tooling, labor, and materials while still producing products at a lower volume. It is becoming more popular over time, as it allows customers to invest less time and money while still getting fast access to different markets.

Choose our CNC Turning services for circular cross sections. We also offer Turn & Mill capabilities for more complex turned parts.

Injection moulding is a manufacturing process often used to produce high volumes of plastic parts. This manufacturing process starts by creating and machining a mould with precision to form the part’s features. Then molten plastic resin is injected into the metal mould cavity. The plastic moulded parts subsequently cool and are ejected from the mould cavity. If you want to know more about the injection moulding process, read our Injection Moulding Guide.

CNC machining is another method that is repeatable and easy to accomplish for quick turnarounds and high-quality goods. It’s also scalable and can use various raw materials while having minimal investments in the machine's tooling, setup, and preparation.

It is essential that the design of the injection moulded parts are carefully reviewed before production. Removing unnecessary features from the parts will make the tooling easier to machine. Read our Injection Moulding Design Guide to optimise your parts and get a better price for your project.Â

In this article Get It Made simulated the production for two different parts, a very simple small part, and a more complex larger part. You can see how prices vary between different common injection moulding materials and part quantities moulded.

Injection molding can be used with a wide variety of materials, from plastics to metals and beyond. This process also helps create consistent products with high strength, durability, and weather resistance. For example, plastic parts can be poured into a mold to create an automotive part for a specialty vehicle, and the same mold can be used for the rest of the production run.

There are three types of low-volume manufacturing that can be used to reach minimum order goals and produce goods: injection molding, CNC machining, and 3D printing. Below, we'll dive into each of these categories in greater detail.