Manufacturing Design Tips
Design Tips
Get quick advice on creating plastic, metal, and elastomeric parts for injection molding, CNC machining, 3D printing, and sheet metal fabrication. Designing with manufacturability in mind can accelerate production time and reduce production costs.
- [Injection Molding](/content/resources/design-tips-library/?filter=injectionmolding "Injection Molding"/index.html)
- [CNC Machining](/content/resources/design-tips-library/?filter=cncmachining "CNC Machining"/index.html)
- [3D Printing](/content/resources/design-tips-library/?filter=3dprinting "3D Printing"/index.html)
- [Sheet Metal Fabrication](/content/resources/design-tips-library/?filter=sheetmetalfabrication "Sheet Metal Fabrication"/index.html)
- [Materials](/content/resources/design-tips-library/?filter=materials "Materials"/index.html)
- [Industries](/content/resources/design-tips-library/?filter=industries "Industries"/index.html)
[View All](/content/resources/design-tips-library/ "Design Tips Library"/index.html)
Popular Topics
- [Cost Reduction
Making small design changes can often save you time and money.
View Tips](/content/resources/design-tips-library/?filter=costreduction "Design Tips Library"/index.html) - [Defects
Design defects happen sometimes. It’s important to know in advance how to avoid the most difficult ones.
View Tips](/content/resources/design-tips-library/?filter=defects "Design Tips Library"/index.html) - [Basic Design
Sometimes you need quick confirmation about elements of your designs and the best advice is to go back to basics.
View Tips](/content/resources/design-tips-library/?filter=basicdesign "Design Tips Library"/index.html) - [Complex Design
Get past the basics and delve into the deeper questions of how to model parts with complicated geometries and features.
View Tips](/content/resources/design-tips-library/?filter=complexdesign "Design Tips Library"/index.html) - [Plastic
We stock more than 130 plastics across our molding, machining, and 3D printing services. Each has its own benefits and quirks. These design tips will get you ahead of any issues.
View Tips](/content/resources/design-tips-library/?filter=plastic "Design Tips Library"/index.html) - [Metal
From dangerously sharp edges to corrosion, there’s a lot to think about when designing metal parts. Learn how to avoid the big problems with these design tips.
View Tips](/content/resources/design-tips-library/?filter=metal "Design Tips Library"/index.html)
Featured Design Tips
Plastics that Meet Medical Needs
Safety and longevity are paramount with plastic medical parts. Which work best for your application?
Read Design Tip](/content/resources/design-tips/plastics-that-meet-medical-needs/ "Plastics that Meet Medical Needs "/index.html)
Glass Transition Temperature of Polymers
Glass transition temperature (Tg) affects moldability, strength, elasticity, transparency, and more.
Read Design Tip](/content/resources/design-tips/glass-transition-temperature-of-polymers/ "Glass Transition Temperature of Polymers"/index.html)
UV Resistant Plastics
This design tip evaluates UV-resistant plastic options available for injection molding, 3D printing, and CNC machining.
Read Design Tip](/content/resources/design-tips/uv-resistant-plastics/ "UV Resistant Plastics"/index.html)
Why You Should Use Vapor Smoothing on 3D-Printed Parts
Vapor smoothing uses chemical vapors to smooth and remove surface impurities from 3D-printed parts.
Read Design Tip](/content/resources/design-tips/why-you-should-use-vapor-smoothing-on-3d-printed-parts/ "Why You Should Use Vapor Smoothing on 3D-Printed Parts"/index.html)
Solving Wall Thickness Issues in Molded Parts
Address design change requests related to slot widths and wall thicknesses for molded parts.
Read Design Tip](/content/resources/design-tips/solving-wall-thickness-issues-in-molded-parts/ "Solving Wall Thickness Issues in Molded Parts"/index.html)
Top Corrosion-Resistant Metals
Parts turning to piles of rust? These materials can help you avoid the scourge of corrosion.
Read Design Tip](/content/resources/design-tips/finding-the-right-corrosion-resistant-metals/ "Top Corrosion-Resistant Metals "/index.html)
Video Tips
Designing for Moldability
See how designing with moldability in mind can help you avoid manufacturing advisories in quoting, save you development time, and reduce production costs.
Explore the 3D-Printed Hexahedron
The Hexahedron combines several 3D printing materials and technologies to teach you all about additive manufacturing. The design aid will help you avoid common pitfalls and help us make better parts for you.
Improve Your Molded Parts With the Design Cube
The design cube demonstrated in this video shows several design challenges—and solutions—for injection-molded parts.
Design Essentials
We've compiled our most essential manufacturing tips into three downloadable design guides on 3D printing, machining, and molding. Each looks at improving manufacturability, reducing production costs through design, material selection, and more.