It doesn’t always have to be difficult to find a company that specializes in short to medium manufacturing runs. Winco Stamping has long specialized in short to medium metal stamping production runs, and has five steps to keep in mind to ensure that production services are best suited to your needs.
Know Your Project and Requirements
Arguably, this is one of the most important parts of any manufacturer search. The more knowledge of your project and its requirements, the better the process will be for you and your potential manufacturer. Items such as timeline, rough budget, manufacturing recurrence, and more considerations all fall under knowing your project.
- Design elements including wall thickness, tolerances, material selection ideas, and any expected revisions
- Identify areas where your design and ultimately, product, will need any kind of value-added service, such as PEM insertion or riveting
Identify Key Qualities in Metal Stamping Production Companies
When your requirements are finalized, the search for short to medium run metal stamping production services moves to evaluating manufacturers who can meet those requirements. One of the very first things to do when the search truly begins is to utilize directory sites or attend regional trade shows to identify potential metal stampers.
- Directories and trade shows allow customers to filter search parameters in order to find exactly what they’re looking for.
- It’s also critical to be aware of companies that offer short to medium run tooling services as well. Matching tooling needs with production needs should be the goal of any customer.
Gauge Capabilities and Quality Measures
Once you’ve narrowed down your initial list of companies that can perform the broad metal stamping production services you need, now it’s time to dig deep. Here are a few key ways to do so.
- Explore a given manufacturer’s website and browse through all of their services. This includes materials worked with, procedures, value-added services or secondary operations, and production capabilities on a technical level.
- One of the most critical points during this discovery phase is to gauge and identify a manufacturer’s notable efforts on quality. Identifying a manufacturer that highlights an ISO 9001 certification is going to be a great start.
- Companies that highlight that they are customer-focused demonstrate a true desire to do more than just perform metal stamping services, but also build relationships. This shows a manufacturer truly cares about their customers, and with short to medium production runs, there are likely to be more conversations between customers and manufacturers.
Make Evaluations Based on Your Needs
At this point, your evaluations should likely contain anywhere from three to five manufacturers able to perform the metal stamping production services you need. Making a decision then boils down to one thing: cost.
- Submit RFQs to manufacturers and compare costs
- Price per piece
- Tooling price
- Any necessary value-added services
- Potential engineering fees
- Estimated shipping costs
Ensure the Fit Is Right
Lastly, before committing to a manufacturer for long-term metal stamping production services, work together to create a prototype of your product to fully see their services on display. This allows customers to see how communication works during manufacturing and gives a firsthand look at quality.
Next, review documentation and record-keeping procedures as well as packaging and logistics handling.
Trust Winco Stamping for Your Metal Stamping Production Services
Winco Stamping is proud to be an industry-leading metal stamping production company. We’ve worked with numerous industries over the years to create the metal-stamped parts that are best suited for our customers’ needs. Backed by our ISO 9001 certification, quality is more than just a buzzword in our facility.
Contact us today to see how we can best serve your metal stamping needs now and moving forward.
