In recent years, to meet consumers’ diverse needs, more and more manufacturers have used low-volume manufacturing processes to produce a certain amount of products to meet the needs of a wide range of consumers. This method can produce on-demand products according to customer needs and reduce inventory. This production method currently becoming more and more important in global manufacturing companies. This article gives you a detailed introduction to the low-volume production process and its advantages and disadvantages.
What is Low-volume manufacturing?
Low-volume manufacturing refers to producing parts ranging from 1 to 10,000 pieces. it is a contrast process to High-volume mass production and creates the opportunity to reduce risk, make designs more flexible, reduce time to market, and save production costs.
Advantages of low-volume Manufacturing
Easy for Customization： Due to the small production volume, Low-volume manufacturing can more easily achieve product customization and can quickly adjust production plans according to market demand and order changes to meet the specific needs of different customers.
Design flexibility: During the design phase, low-volume manufacturing can produce prototypes and low-volume products at a faster rate to verify the design, check for product issues, and make adjustments based on actual results. During testing, low-volume production can make design changes based on customer feedback.
Faster to market: In today’s increasingly competitive environment, bringing products to market earlier than competitors can enable a company to gain more market share. Low-volume manufacturing is an ideal way to produce ready-to-use parts within days or weeks, allowing them to reach the market immediately.
Save cost: Without expensive tooling investment, Low-volume manufacturing can save costs for business including both product cost and also cost for changes. This is particularly beneficial if you’re testing a new market or launching a new product.
Disadvantage of Low-Volume Manufacturing
High Unit Cost: Due to the small volume, the costs of tooling and production preparation are relatively high, resulting in high unit product costs.
Limited production capacity: The operating efficiency of the low-volume manufacturing process is low compared to High-volume manufacturing, So it can not produce large quantities of parts in a short time.
When to use Low-Volume Manufacturing?
Low-volume manufacturing has its advantages and disadvantages and manufacturers can choose the right low-volume manufacturing process based on the project needs. it is mainly used in the following cases:
- In the case of customization for diversified market demands, it is needed to quickly produce new products or update products.
- Product adjustments and changes need to be made at any time due to the Market demand changes rapidly.
- The product life cycle is short and products need to be shipped faster.
- When the production quantity is not large and is not suitable for mass production, low-volume production can better meet production needs.
- Need Production to bridge the gap between product development and full-scale production.
Low-Volume Manufacturing Processes
There are different low-volume manufacturing processes can be chosen to make parts. Here we introduce the common process used in various industries.
Low-volume injection molding
Low-volume injection molding, also known as prototype injection molding, is the process of creating small batches of plastic parts in a short time with rapid injection tooling. it involves injecting molten material into a mold, which solidifies to form the final part. it is commonly used to produce volume range from 100 to 10,000 pieces.
if you are interested in this process, Read more in our blogs about A Guide to Low Volume Injection Molding.
Urethane casting
Urethane casting uses a Silicone mold to cast urethane material to obtain the plastic parts that have the same shape as the cavity of the silicone mold. the silicone mold is created in a vacuum state based on a master pattern and the urethane casting prototypes are the replicas of the master pattern. this method is commonly used to produce volumes ranging from 10 to 100 pieces.
3D printing
3D printing Create plastic parts on a 3D printer that create layer by layer of the plastic resin and then form the part according to the 3D model. 3D Printing is commonly used to produce volumes ranging from 1 to 10 pieces.
Sheet metal fabrication
Sheet metal fabrication is a process that turns flat sheet metal into products by cutting, bending, welding techniques, and so on. It can be used both for low-volume and high-volume manufacturing. the sheet metal prototypes are usually made as low-volume sheet metal parts which help eliminate the risk in manufacturing while reducing overall costs.
CNC machining
CNC machining is a subtractive manufacturing process that removes part of a material block with instructions from a CAD model. The programmed computer software controls the movement of cutting tools and machinery. It is widely used for metal parts manufacturing in low volume and High volume with more CNC machines such as CNC aluminum parts.
Single Point Diamond Turning
Single-point diamond turning (SPDT) is a CNC turning process that uses a highly precise single-point diamond cutting tool to remove material from a rotating workpiece, resulting in ultra-precision surfaces and geometries. it can be used for creating optic components from low volume to mass production.
besides the above low-volume manufacturing processes, you may also be interested in learning more about all plastic parts manufacturing processes. please check our blog.
High-Volume Production vs. Low-Volume Manufacturing
The difference between high-volume and low-volume manufacturing is mainly the scale of production and the flexibility each offers.
Production Volume: Low-volume production works for volumes ranging from 1 to 10,000 parts while high-volume production works for over 10,000 parts.
Initial setup time and cost: High-volume manufacturing needs a longer setup time for all kinds of toolings, production lines, and equipment which means a high cost for investment. in contrast, Low-volume manufacturing can save these toolings with a low-cost initial setup and reduced time.
Unit cost: due to the automation of high-volume manufacturing, its unit cost will be very cheap while low-volume manufacturing will have a high unit cost.
Applications of Low-volume Manufacturing
Automotive industry
During the Automotive parts development, it is critical to make some Productions to bridge the gap between product development and full-scale production, this is to validate the risks of the designs and production lines. So, low-volume manufacturing can perfectly match this kind of demand and be used widely in the Automotive industry.
Consumer product industry
The consumer product industry requires fast innovations to seize the market with low-volume manufactured parts. these parts are usually used for testing the market and collect the necessary feedback from customers.
Medical device
Medical devices usually do not require very high volume when used in the hospital, So, low volume manufacturing is an ideal way to save costs for medical devices.
Get Low-Volume Manufacturing with KUSLA
At KUSLA, we specialize in both prototyping and low-volume part manufacturing services. we have expertise in different processes including plastic injection molding, Urethane casting, sheet metal fabrication, CNC machining, and Diamond turning. No matter one prototype or 10,000 parts, we can make it for you in a short time.
FAQ
What does low volume mean in business?
it means small quantities of products, small scale of products. Generally from 1 to 10,000 parts.
What is the most popular low-volume manufacturing process?
For plastic parts, urethane casting is the most popular manufacturing process due to the low cost of urethane casted parts. for metal parts, CNC machining is the most popular way for low-volume manufacturing.
