Are you feeling bogged down trying to coordinate with too many manufacturing suppliers?
When you have a product that needs to be made—whether it’s a single one-off rapid prototype or a complex assembly—it’s easy to feel overwhelmed managing all the moving parts in the manufacturing process.
Wouldn’t it be nice to hand over the entire manufacturing process to a company with a proven approach to innovative product realization and supply chain management?
That’s where we come in! As a customer-focused contract manufacturing company, Reata Engineering is committed to lightening the load on our customers. No matter where you’re at in your product development process, we’ll jump right in and take over so you can continue focusing on other critical aspects of your business.
Our holistic approach to manufacturing success covers everything from design all the way through product fulfillment.
Your Design
Every part or assembly begins with a design, so naturally, our process starts with a customer uploading a design via our secure digital quoting platform. Solid models are ideal because we can pull them right into our system and get started quickly on the next steps. That said, we’re willing to work with just about any design format (PDFs, sketches) a customer provides.
We just ask that you include as much pertinent information as possible in your initial design submission, such as dimensions, tolerances, and full assemblies (if applicable). Let us know if there’s anything you’re struggling with, and we’ll provide expert recommendations. We often help customers with material selection during this phase of the process.
Communication is key at every stage of manufacturing, so we like to establish a strong rapport with our customers right in the beginning. We’ll be in close contact with you to make sure expectations are aligned on both sides of the partnership, communicating via phone, email, or even Zoom video calls.
At the end of this stage, we’ll provide a price for the part as quoted and we’ll be fully transparent about any price changes we anticipate during the Design for Manufacturability (DFM) phase.
Dedicated People
When you send us a part or an assembly, you’ll never feel like you’re throwing a model over the fence and seeing where it lands. Once we quote your part, we integrate our team of experts into your project, using a holistic approach to prepare for each subsequent step and communicating thoroughly the entire time.
We like to say that we’re a customer service company just as much as we’re a contract manufacturing company—and it’s true! We view our customers as partners and seek to build lasting relationships.
Design for Manufacturability (DFM)
When we reach the DFM stage in the process, we circle back to the customer’s critical goals (short and long term) to inform our feedback or design optimizations. We realize that goals and priorities can vary depending on the part type, so we let the customer lead the way in showing us how we can provide the most DFM value.
Typically during this phase, we’re helping customers improve cost, performance, and/or time to market while ensuring that they’re fully prepared for the next step in manufacturing. We offer feedback in the following areas (though this list is by no means conclusive!):
- Finishing
- Plating
- Features
- Hardware placement/type
- Material suggestion
- Alternatives to welding and casting
Even when we aren’t going to be involved in the future of the part, we’re committed to setting our customers up for ongoing success.
Prototype & Beta
We understand that when a customer comes to us in need of a prototype, time to market is critical to their success, so we’re committed to providing a quick turnaround.
That said, we’ll also want to understand the requirements for a particular prototype. Are we making a first part that’s proof of concept and iterating from there or should the part be representative of what will be manufactured at scale?
Keep in mind that if you stick with just one contract manufacturer for prototype, beta, and production, the time to market interval will be faster because you won’t have to worry about individual shops each going through their own separate learning curve.
Parts Manufacture & Sourcing
Whether we’re manufacturing parts at our Colorado facility or coordinating your supply chain, we’ll make sure your parts and assemblies meet all specifications.
Our mix of CNC multi-axis, horizontal and vertical milling centers, CNC turning centers, and swiss machining enable us to provide the widest range of capability for any project.
Still, we understand that complex assemblies often require specific “off-the-shelf” parts. We recently had a customer who needed a special motor from a particular company, so we coordinated with that company to get the part made to specification. We’ll manage vendor relationships so that you don’t have to, improving cost and lead time along the way.
Assembly & Testing
We provide advanced in-house assembly services customized to match the exact needs of a project. Our assembly services can incorporate, tooling, control, subassembly, work instructions, packaging, and shipping phases, with each modified to suit the project at hand.
We’ll also provide testing and calibration if needed, developing test procedures and documentation for:
- Vacuum testing
- UL testing
- Electrical testing
- Leak testing
- Load cell calibration
- Weight calibration
- And more
Product Fulfillment & Service
The final step in our manufacturing process is getting the parts out of our shop and delivered to a customer’s door. If you’d like to inspect the parts at our facility before we ship them, you’re more than welcome to stop by. We’ll provide full documentation for you to review.
Do you need custom packaging? Let us know and we’ll make sure the packaging meets your needs, taking the utmost care with each part. Want us to ship to your end customer? We’ll do our best to make it happen.
When it comes time for shipping, we leverage all available options, from small FedEx and UPS delivery to palletized freight shipments. All international shipping includes the appropriate shipping documentation. If you’re local to Denver, we may even have our team members deliver your parts right to your door!
No matter how far along you are in the design and manufacturing process, Reata Engineering is here to help make your life easier. Request a quote and you’ll be breathing a sigh of relief in no time!