How To Find The Best Precision Machining Services?

Designers and engineers often rely on machine shops to obtain parts created through processes like grinding, fabrication, CNC machining, milling, and turning. When ordering parts for CNC machining, it&#;s important to find a machine shop that offers compatible services for your project requirements. To help you select the best precision machining services, consider the following tips:

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1. Experience: Look for a company with extensive experience in the industry. A shop that has been in business for a long time is likely to have in-depth knowledge about production processes and a good reputation for product fulfillment and customer service.

2. Equipment: Check what systems and technologies the precision machining service provides. If the part requires five-axis CNC machining, for example, it&#;s pointless to engage with a service that only offers three-axis machines. Make sure that the machine shop has the right manufacturing equipment listed on its website and can offer the appropriate turnarounds.

3. Quality Assurance: Verify that the shop has the expertise to handle diverse materials like stainless steel and titanium, as well as more common materials like soft aluminum . This indicates that the shop has varied manufacturing experience and can handle your present and future requests.

4. Secondary Finishes and Operations: Determine whether the precision machining service can perform secondary finishes and operations like chemical conversion coating, nickel plating, electroplating, anodizing, laser marking, silkscreen, and installed inserts. This ensures that you receive an all-set component.

5. Operational Risk: Avoid precision machining vendors that rely on a single person to perform everything from machining to quoting and quality assurance. This poses an operational risk if anything happens to the individual. Check the activities and distribution of the vendor across the personnel range.

6. Responsiveness: Choose a vendor that is easily accessible and responds promptly to your inquiries. Evaluate the vendor&#;s responsiveness in the early stages of the engagement, paying close attention to whether anyone picks up the or responds to emails.

7. Certifications: Check for certifications that establish the quality of the precision machining service. If you need to manufacture aerospace application parts, for example, you should choose a machine shop of the highest quality. Ensure that the production facility has the necessary certifications and medical-grade facilities if you order medical components and devices.

8. Lead Times: Evaluate lead times to determine whether manufacturing partners can deliver and machine a part within the required time frame. Quality machine shops usually list their usual turnaround times, but these may vary depending on the scale and complexity of the job. Some advanced precision machining services provide automated software for quoting that estimates the production cost and how long the order will take to manufacture and process.

9. Geographical Location: Consider the location of the precision machining service provider to save on logistic costs and reduce downtime. If precision machines fail to function properly, a service provider near you can quickly respond to your primary concerns.

To find the best precision machining service provider, you need to check their experience, certifications, lead times, and responsiveness. Quickparts provides precision machining services with cutting-edge technologies and a team of experienced engineers. Contact an expert to find out more or begin your project now.

Before working with a precision machine shop, be sure to ask them about these critical aspects of their business: 

1. Equipment and capabilities 

You&#;ll need to determine if the shop&#;s equipment and capabilities are the right fit for your parts. 

• If you have a complex part and the shop primarily uses old machines, they probably can&#;t achieve the level of precision you need. 

• If you have a simple part and the shop only uses high-tech equipment, you&#;ll likely end up spending more than necessary. 

Inspection equipment is also a crucial consideration. The shop may be able to machine a part, but can they inspect it to ensure that it meets all requirements? For extremely precise parts, they&#;ll need a coordinate measuring machine (CMM) on hand. 

Precision machine shops use the rule of 10 when it comes to quality, which dictates that the equipment used to inspect a feature must be 10x more accurate than the feature it&#;s checking. That means if you have a feature that&#;s 0.002&#;, the inspection must be accurate to .&#;, and only a CMM will be able to get that job done right. 

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2. Capacity and lead time 

Capacity and lead time are two important factors to consider in relation to one another. A precision machine shop might promise a 2-week lead time on their website, but lead times are measured from the date a project kicks off. If the shop&#;s capacity is low or nonexistent, they may not be able to get started on the project for another month&#;suddenly, a &#;2-week lead time&#; becomes more like 6 weeks. 

Keep in mind that a shop with limited capacity at a given time could still be an excellent precision machining partner. Low capacity often indicates that a shop is in high demand because they&#;re great at what they do. If you&#;re confident that a particular shop is the best fit for your project, it&#;s worth having a conversation about what they can do for you. A high-end shop will help you solve your manufacturing problems and deliver significant value. 

At Focused on Machining, we&#;re always honest and transparent with prospective customers about our current capacity. If we can&#;t turn your project around quickly enough ourselves, we&#;re happy to facilitate a solution that will get the job done on your timeline. 

3. Types of parts they make 

Ask a precision machine shop which industries they primarily work with to better understand the types of parts they typically make. 

If they&#;re a top-line aerospace machine shop, for example, you can expect them to machine parts with tight tolerances, have an extensive network of finishers, and price projects on the higher end to reflect the exceptional level of service they provide. 

If a shop is more of a jack of all trades, their prices may be more competitive, but as generalists, they&#;re probably not the best choice for parts with tolerances tighter than 0.005&#;. 

4. Certifications 

Most precision machine shops list certifications on their website, but you&#;ll want to see the actual certificates. Some shops claim to be AS compliant, but that doesn&#;t mean they&#;re officially certified. 

Even if they can prove that they&#;re certified, not all AS machine shops are created equal. Ask the shop to see their ERP system and tell you how they purchase material. A superior precision machine shop will be able to put any prospective customer at ease by demonstrating that they have rock-solid processes in place.

Other certifications you may want to ask about include ISO :, ITAR, and even calibration certificates for equipment. 

5. Tech stack 

Many precision machine shops have gone fully digital, which means customers don't have to worry about paperwork with sensitive information being strewn everywhere. But with that transition to paperless documentation comes security risks. 

How robust is the shop&#;s cybersecurity? Do they work with an IT company? Are they CMMC certified? The right precision machining partner will have taken careful steps to ensure customer data is protected at all times. 

If the shop runs 24/7, you&#;ll also want assurances that they have monitoring and oversight processes in place on the floor. 

A trick for weeding out shops during the beginning stages of your assessment is to visit their website for cues on how sophisticated they are. Do they have a professional address? Is their website easy to navigate? Do they have a secure quoting form? These are all green flags for taking the next step. 

6. Long-term business plans

When looking for a long-term precision machining partner, it&#;s crucial to find a shop that can grow with you. 

Conversations about succession plans and visions for the future can feel uncomfortable, but precision machine shop owners are accustomed to having them. More importantly, customers deserve to know if the shop they&#;re planning to work with will be around for the long haul. 

If you need a precision machining partner, we hope you&#;ll consider Focused on Machining. We&#;re ready and willing to answer any questions you have about our equipment and capabilities, capacity and lead time, industry expertise, certifications, tech stack, and long-term business plans. Contact us today to speak with us directly, or go ahead and request a quote. 

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