Design Support
This is very much defined by the title!
At Plunkett Associates we are regularly dealing with a wide range of manufacturing processes and as such are well placed to answer queries that you may encounter during a product design.
…and if we don’t know, we certainly know someone who will!
Now we would not be arrogant enough to claim to know everything, but if we are familiar with what you are trying to achieve and you can send us the data, then it is in our own interests to ensure the part can be manufactured!
Please pick up the phone and talk to us if you have a question regarding your design project - we will be happy to help.
When they cannot help we tend to resort to the web, after all, it’s on our desktop probably closer than our colleagues!
Whilst the web is great, there is almost too much information and its not always available in a form that makes it easy to access. Then we get into conflicting information.
Without all the detail it can be difficult to distinguish between two sites claiming different accuracies or material properties.
Ensuring the design is easy to manufacture
At Plunkett Associates we want to manufacture your product and given that opportunity, we would be only too pleased to support your design activities. After all we would have a vested interest in ensuring that the design was as easy to manufacture as possible.
Now working with everything from sheet metal to MIM (metal injection moulding), stereolithography to CNC machining and die casting to injection moulding, we have to admit that we may not always have the answer to hand. However, if that is the case, we have access to a significant supply base that most certainly will know the answer and will have the same vested interest in getting the design correct as we do.
Key issues to understand
The key issues for us to understand are the required quantities, materials, part size/complexity and aesthetic call out, as this goes a long way to defining the process. Then from the process comes the answers to all those design queries, minimum wall sections, tolerances, self colour versus paint, RFI/EMC issues etc etc.
All off this has to take place against a backdrop of cost, as no matter how idealistic we might be in generating the design, it will be the economics that govern whether the design goes forward to manufacture.
Therefore next time you are scratching your head about whether something will work, pick up the phone or contact us by email, we might just make life a bit easier!
