Mass production is no longer the only dominating factor in manufacturing. Startups, expanding businesses, and even established businesses now tend to look for smaller production runs to experiment, test, and refine products before they commit to large-scale investments. Here is where Low-Volume Manufacturing becomes invaluable.
With lower production volumes, businesses can focus more on design, deliver products at an earlier stage, and not be bound to huge initial investments. However, the actual difficulty is cost management. This is where low-volume manufacturing cost-saving strategies come in.
This blog will discuss what low-volume manufacturing is, why it is important, and some practical ways to attain a substantial reduction in the cost of low-volume production.
What is Low-Volume Manufacturing?
Low-Volume Manufacturing is producing a small (limited) number of parts (typically between 50 and a few thousand parts) by means of flexible manufacturing processes, such as CNC machining, 3D printing, or vacuum casting. This method does not demand a large investment in long-life tooling, unlike high-volume production, and is good when:
- New product design prototyping.
- Before mass production, market validation.
- Premium/niche markets.
- Bridge manufacturing involves small quantities until the larger-quantity production is complete.
The best advantage is that the cost of low-volume production will be reduced, due to which the company can avoid unnecessary production, save warehousing costs, and react in dynamic markets like consumer electronics, alternative transport, and healthcare.
7 Cost-saving Strategies for Low-Volume Manufacturing
1. Use of Rapid Prototyping Technologies
Rapid prototyping technologies like CNC machining and 3D printing are one of the best methods for low-volume production cost reduction. The technologies enable businesses to develop the right prototype without incurring the cost of tooling and long lead times.
3D printing is one such application, as it is used to test a range of design solutions, and CNC machining offers accuracy to components where tolerances are more precise. Their combination enables companies to complete designs with little wastage.
For example, service vendors providing 3D printing and CNC machining of prototypes are able to assist businesses in testing their designs at a fraction of the cost of conventional manufacturing.
2. Maximize Material Selection
A large percentage of the cost of production is covered by materials. When deciding on the material to use in your product, you can save a lot of money without losing functionality. Examples are structural components of plastics, which in some cases are replaced by metals, and thus, are lighter and affordable to produce and machine.
Another way of saving costs is through local sourcing. The collaboration with local vendors allows companies to reduce logistics and transportation expenses and shorten turnaround time.
3. Adopt Modular Tooling
Small runs can be costly in terms of investing in traditional tooling. Alternatively, the modular or multi-use tooling solutions can significantly reduce costs. Modular tooling allows the manufacturer to make changes to the design without producing new molds with each design change.
It is particularly useful where product designs change regularly, such as in the medical device or consumer electronics industries.
Example: Silicone vacuum-casting molds are reusable and much less expensive than a steel mold, with a flexibility of 50-500 batch size.
4. Outsource Specialized Processes
Not all businesses are able to afford the in-house facilities to take care of all production steps. Some processes, like injection molding, finishing, or surface treatments, may need costly machines and labor. By outsourcing these procedures to dedicated partners, you not only have access to the latest technology and expertise at their disposal, but also at their overhead.
There are a great number of low-volume manufacturing service providers that provide end-to-end solutions to help businesses focus on core competencies, such as design and marketing, and reduce the costs of production.
Example: Collaboration with a provider of CNC machining, vacuum casting, and 3D printing does not require significant capital investment in various technologies.
5. Adopt Design for Manufacturability (DFM)
Optimization of manufacturing designs is one of the least explored low-volume manufacturing cost-saving strategies. DFM means coming up with products that are simpler and less expensive to manufacture due to the reduction of complexity.
Example: Less complex features in a prototype machined through CNC can be created more quickly, along with less waste of material, which leads to lower cost.
6. Use Hybrid Manufacturing
It is economically rational to combine various technologies rather than to use one approach. The hybrid production combines technologies such as 3D printing, CNC machining, and vacuum casting to be cost-effective and, at the same time, produce high-quality products.
An example is to design a component in 3D printing before performing production in CNC machining to ascertain high-precision functionality. Vacuum casting can be the most affordable option in case of a small batch is required.
Example: An organization may invest in 3D printing to prototype and then switch to vacuum casting to produce short runs, which saves time and costs on the transition.
7. Streamline Supply Chain Management
Although the most effective production processes may be expensive, they can be when the supply chain is mismanaged. Delays, huge inventories, and fragmented relations with suppliers are said to be the hidden costs.
One of the methods by which companies can maintain low costs is by consolidation of suppliers, negotiating contracts at flexible terms, and by the use of just-in-time (JIT) practices. In addition, a low-volume manufacturing partner who offers integrated supply chain solutions helps to ensure higher levels of coordination brought about by the design-to-delivery process.
Why Cost-Saving Strategies Matter?
Such strategies are not merely concerned with reducing short-term expenditures, but rather with resiliency. Affordability is equivalent to flexibility in areas where market trends tend to shift rapidly and where customer needs are dynamic. Low-volume production helps companies keep up with the changes, making it competition-friendly, minimizing waste, and preventing the monetary cost of mass production.
In order to emphasize the role of cost management, one can refer to an interesting industry overview in 2024 to shed some light on the matter. Research estimates the global Low-Volume Production Service market to be around USD 3910 million in 2024, which indicates the increasing relevance of the service but also suggests the opportunity to invest strategically.
With the combination of technologies in a strategic way, outsourcing when necessary, and optimization of designs, businesses can have the advantage of low-volume production cost reduction and achieve high-quality outcomes.
Conclusion
Low volume production has become one of the most powerful business flexibility, rapidity, and efficiency tools. The ability to provide companies with the speed of delivering products to the market at minimal costs and using less money in the process will enable them to remain relevant in the constantly changing industries.
We at Cubein specialize in providing custom low-volume production services like CNC machining, 3D printing, and vacuum casting to enable businesses to save costs without compromising quality. You can rely on the quality and efficiency of our services and products, whether it is prototypes, bridge production or limited-volume production.
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Considering cost-cutting and speeding up your product development? You want expert low-volume manufacturing solutions.
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FAQs
- What would low-volume manufacturing best fit?
It is most effective in prototyping, bridge production, niche markets and products that require frequent design changes.
- Why is low-volume production economical?
It lowers upfront tooling investment, systematically reduces waste, removes enormous inventory investment and provides production flexibility.
- Does low-volume manufacturing have as good a quality as mass production?
Yes. High-tech operations such as CNC machining, vacuum casting, and additive manufacturing provide consistency and quality manufacturing.
- Is low-volume manufacturing helpful to startups?
Absolutely. It enables the startup companies to develop products faster, test the need in the market, and decrease risk in investments.