You need a digital machine shop that can make changes on the fly to get you the exact part you need. As a customer-focused contract manufacturing company, Reata Engineering is committed to filling that role for you.
We understand that in the world of modern manufacturing, things don’t always occur serially. Everyone is working on compressed timelines, from the product developer to the machine shop to the supplier of outside services and finishes.
There are times when engineers will need to send out a design with the knowledge that changes may need to be made. We get it. And when that scenario inevitably occurs, we’ll work with you to iterate no matter where we are in the manufacturing process.
Commons Reasons for Design Changes
When customers request changes to their initial design, the reasoning usually comes down to a few key factors:
- Fit. The part doesn’t go together the way it’s supposed to, or something about it just doesn’t feel right.
- Function. The part isn’t performing to specifications. It doesn’t fulfill its primary purpose.
- Finish. The part doesn’t look good from an aesthetic standpoint because the color or finish isn’t perfect.
New product iteration typically occurs in prototype or low-volume production, but we can iterate when producing high volumes as well.
We’re willing to be as flexible as we need to be to make sure our customers are satisfied. Our digital technology allows us to make changes on the fly with minimal impact on lead times.
How Reata Engineering Iterates During Different Phases of Manufacturing
Our approach to design changes varies depending on where we are in the manufacturing process, but we can almost always make your iterations happen.
Iterating in the design or quoting phase. It’s always easiest to iterate early on in the process. We’ll never arbitrarily penalize you for requesting changes, but we may need to adjust the quote if the change affects setup or requires additional time and labor. If it’s a minor change like milling an edge or adding a radius, we probably won’t even adjust the price at all. We’ll just ask you to add the revision to your purchase order and keep moving forward.
Iterating in the middle of machining. Thanks to our entirely digitized workflow, making changes in the middle of the machining process is easy. More importantly, you won’t have to deal with dead time like you would with a machine shop that’s less technologically advanced. Simply provide a new model via email and we’ll review it right away to make programming changes or additions. We’ll implement any changes while the part is running on the machine. Everything occurs in real-time. No delays. No stop-and-go. Even if we already made previous parts under the old design, there’s a good chance we can rework them.
Iterating during the finishing phase. If you need finishing changes, we’ll use our expertise to determine whether it makes more sense to revise the part or remake it entirely. It’s easy enough to strip and re-plate parts, but if there’s a risk of losing tolerances or causing damage, we’ll recommend remaking them. We have great relationships with all of our vendors, so no matter what finishing changes you need, we’ll notify vendors immediately and come up with a good solution.
At the end of the day, we’re always going to do right by our customers because that’s just the kind of contract manufacturing company we are. Don’t settle for shops pushing back on your requests or penalizing you for iterations. Let Reata Engineering solve your complex CNC machining problems for you. Request a quote today!