Both over and under ordering can present problems for a business. When it comes to custom rubber parts, having an estimation of how many parts you’ll need can save your business money in a few ways.
At Timco, we work with our customers to find out as much information as possible about their project to understand exactly what they need. Part of this process includes identifying an estimated annual usage or number of expected parts per order. This estimation can help us determine the best way to approach your project so that you not only get what you need when you need it, but to also help you avoid some unnecessary costs.
How Part Estimations Can Save You Money
The major reason why it’s important that we know how many parts you expect to need is that we want to build a mold that is most economical for your particular project. Every custom rubber part requires a special mold that is customized to the parts exact specifications. These molds can be designed to provide more than one part per heat or cycle. Multiple cavities within one mold can be produced. This increases the number of parts or yield per heat or cycle, and this in turn would reduce the individual piece price.
As an example, let’s imagine that you need custom rubber grommets. A mold that has four cavities will naturally make four parts at a time. If it takes these parts five minutes to cure, you’ll be able to produce roughly 48 parts per hour. However, a mold made with 100 cavities will yield 1200 parts per hour. Not only can this help accommodate you if you need a greater number of parts in a shorter period of time, it can also drive down the cost of each individual piece by limiting the number of runs necessary to reach a certain quota.
Custom molds are expensive because of the amount of CNC machining required to make them to exact specifications. However, the cost of a larger mold may be necessary if you have usage expectations that would place an emphasis on quickly producing many parts. We can use your estimated annual usage to balance the expense of how many cavities you have with how many parts you need in the beginning, middle, and the end of production runs.
Balance Quantity and Costs for Rubber Parts with Timco
Every custom rubber part project is different. It’s not always possible to know exactly how many parts you need, but an estimated annual usage or expected parts per order can help us determine the most cost-effective solution for your project. Contact us today if you have any questions or request a quote to submit information on the parts you need for your project.
