Milling
A classic in prototype manufacturing area precision parts that can be created via milling. Born from this option to mill the final article geometry from the relevant full material, no particularly high investments for tools are necessary here. Even the most diverse of optimisations on the component can be performed through quick adjustments of the CNC software. This is a great advantage especially in case of installation tests of your prototypes.
Milling is often used as an additional manufacturing step if certain areas of an SLM or die cast component subsequently have to be machined due to exacting tolerance requirements or other restrictions.
Especially in case of small quantities, machined articles often feature commercial and technical advantages. Since the article price is considerably influenced by the machine’s processing time, the manufacturing of large quantities with this process should be avoided, if possible. Therefore, contact FLEX with your component requirements – we will check jointly with you to what extent your planned manufacturing process can be optimised technically and commercially.
Optimal quantity to cost ratio: 1 to approx. 50 pieces
As described above, large and special tool purchases are not required for turned or milled parts. The selected subcontractor merely writes a program with which they manufacture your prototype. Depending on production capacity utilisation, the delivery schedule therefore typically is in the range of two days to two weeks. Where applicable, it might be possible to avoid a downstream finishing process, through special tools. We are looking forward to discussing these options with you.
Frequent areas of application:
- Decorative and technical components with small quantities
- Components with a complex geometry
- Components with a rotationally symmetrical geometry
- Tailor-made versions of standard variants