Your cost price across the chain
Before you order tooling, you see what every part, every joint and every box adds to your unit price. You decide on changes by cost per unit, not by feel.
DFM / DFX review
Manufacturability, checked across the whole chain
Before you order tooling, our engineers review your product as one whole: every part, how it goes together, the box it ships in, the freight it pays for and where each piece is made. Every finding comes with its effect on your cost per unit. The review is free, takes one to two weeks, and the report is yours to use with any manufacturer.
Why one part at a time is not enough
A part can be perfectly mouldable while the product stays too expensive. A tool maker's DFM check asks whether their tool can make your part: draft, wall thickness, parting line, gate. That is needed, but it doesn't look at the other parts, the assembly line, the box or the container. Two parts that are each easy to make can still add up to four screws, a gluing step and a box full of air. Those costs arise after the moulding machine, and they sit in every unit price you pay afterwards.
What we review, link by link
Five links, reviewed together, because a change in one moves the cost in the others.
- 1
Part
Can every part be made well and consistently?
- Wall thickness and transitions
- Draft angles and undercuts
- Parting line and gate location
- Tolerances the part needs, and the ones that only cost money
- Material and finish
The trade-offA tighter tolerance makes the tool more expensive and raises the reject rate. We ask where it is really needed.
- 2
Assembly
Does every part earn its place, and does it go together quickly?
- Part count: what can merge and what has to stay separate
- Joints: screws, snap fits, adhesive or ultrasonic welding, each with its own cost
- Assembly sequence: from one side, or flipped halfway
- Tolerance stack-up into a gap your customer sees
The trade-offMerging two parts saves an assembly step but can ask for a more complex tool. You see both sides in cost per unit.
- 3
Packaging and freight
How much air are you shipping?
- Box size and volumetric weight
- Stacking and the pallet footprint
- Protection in transit
- Empty space in the packaging, with the EU packaging regulation (PPWR) in mind
The trade-offA base your customer clicks on themselves makes the box smaller, but moves an assembly step to your customer.
- 4
Supply chain
Where is each part made, and how dependent are you?
- Distance between parts, assembly and the market
- Parts only one supplier can make
- Purchased parts with long lead times
- Standard materials and processes that several suppliers master
The trade-offMaking parts closer to assembly saves freight and lead time, but often costs unit price.
- 5
End of life
Can the product come apart?
- Disassembly: what comes apart and what is fixed for good
- One material, or materials that separate by hand
- Recycled content: how much your material and tool can take
The trade-offA glued joint is often cheaper on the line than one that comes apart. We put both in numbers.
When to run it
As soon as the function is fixed and there is a bill of materials, and before you release the tooling. Earlier makes little sense, because the design is still moving. Later is possible, but the price of a change goes up with every step.
In our process this is phase 1, before any steel is ordered. See the four phases
In the 3D model
An edit in CAD. Hours of work, no steel.
After the tooling order
The tool design is redone and the schedule shifts.
After the first samples (T1)
The tool goes back to the milling machine. That costs steel and weeks.
What you send, what you get back
You send
- A 3D model of every part, preferably as STEP files
- A bill of materials with materials and purchased parts
- The intended assembly sequence, if there is one
- Volumes per year
- A target cost per unit
- Material and finish requirements
- Sales channel and destination: retail shelf, parcel or your customer's line
You get back
- Per finding: the issue, the cause and our proposal
- The effect on your cost per unit, as a range
- What has to change and what could change
- Findings ranked by their effect
- The revision of the model the review applies to
Your files are covered by our standard NDA. Prefer your own? We'll sign it.
Lead time, price and ownership
- Price
- Free. The review is the first step of our quotation process, and it doesn't commit you to anything.
- Lead time
- One to two weeks, counted from the moment your files are complete. A physical test, such as a printed assembly model or a packed test shipment, is agreed separately and takes extra time.
- Ownership
- The report is yours. Share it with whoever you like, including another manufacturer. It contains no quotation: if you want one, you get it as a separate document.
A free review from a party that wants to produce?
That deserves a critical look. It is exactly why the report is yours and goes with you to any manufacturer. A finding that only holds if we do the production falls apart the moment someone else reads it.
How this differs from other DFM checks
Who reviewsWhat they look atWhat they don't see
Tool maker, with the quoteWhat they look atWhether their tool can make your partWhat they don't seeOther parts, assembly, packaging, freight
Automated online DFM checkWhat they look atGeometry per part, sometimes a cost estimateWhat they don't seeAssembly sequence, packaging, where each part is made
Production HeroesWhat they look atParts, assembly, packaging, freight and supply chain togetherWhat they don't seeOnly what you don't send: the review is as good as your bill of materials and volumes
The tool maker and the software review the part. We also run the assembly, the packaging and the freight, so we see those costs ourselves.
Who it is for
A report you can forward to your client
Per finding the issue, the cause, the proposal and what happens if nothing changes, with no quotation in between. The design stays yours; we write it so you can forward it unchanged. Each review applies to one revision of the model, so after sign-off it is on record what was reviewed and what changed later.
Manufacturability and COGS in due diligence
Before you invest: can the product be made the way the team drew it, and does the cost price in the business plan hold? We work out the cost of goods sold across the whole chain, including assembly, packaging and freight, and show where the risks sit.
From practice
Questions about the review
What does the DFM review cost?
Nothing. The review is the first step of our quotation process and doesn't commit you to anything. A physical test, such as a printed assembly model or a packed test shipment, is agreed separately.
How long does it take?
One to two weeks from the moment your files are complete. A physical test takes extra time. Plan the review as its own step before the tooling order, not in parallel with building the tool.
What do I need to send?
A 3D model of every part, preferably as STEP files, a bill of materials with materials and purchased parts, the intended assembly sequence, volumes per year, the sales channel and the destination. With a target cost per unit we can rank the findings straight away.
Can I use the report with another manufacturer?
Yes. The report is yours, and you can share it with whoever you like. There is no quotation in it, so a design agency can forward it to its client unchanged.
What if the design changes after the review?
Then we review again, but only the links the change touches. That is why every review applies to a revision of the model. A different wall thickness touches only that part; a different housing size also touches the box, the pallet and the freight.
Is my design safe with you?
Your files are covered by our standard NDA before anyone opens them, and we'll sign your own if you prefer. We manufacture to your specification and never compete with our clients' products.
Send us your model
Book a call, or mail your STEP files and bill of materials to contact@productionheroes.nl. An engineer looks at them, not a sales rep.