Technical resources
These four guides cover the questions that decide whether a machined part works and what it costs: how tolerances accumulate across an assembly, how to review a design before it is quoted, how to control a drawing change once production has started, and how to move a part from prototype to volume without losing the fit. They are written for design and sourcing engineers, and each one is dated and versioned.
Tolerance stack-up in CNC machining
Why parts that each pass inspection can still fail at assembly, with a worked numeric example comparing worst-case addition against root-sum-square, and five rules for reviewing a stack before production starts.
Published
Checklist · 6 min readDesign for manufacturing checklist for CNC machined parts
Twenty checks across material, geometry, tolerance, features and finishing, each with the reason it matters and the cost of ignoring it. Intended to be run over a drawing before it goes out for quotation.
Published
Process guide · 7 min readEngineering change control after production has started
How a revision becomes old stock, scrap or a silent non-conformance, and the change-notice content that prevents it. Includes a table of change types ordered by cost impact.
Published
Sourcing guide · 7 min readFrom prototype to mass production
What to freeze before tooling, why the prototype process should not become the production process by default, and how to run both routes in parallel while the design settles.
Published
How these guides are written
- Numbers are stated, not implied. Where a figure appears it comes with its unit and the conditions it applies to, so it can be checked against your own drawing rather than taken on trust.
- Limits are stated. Every capability claim is paired with the reason it might not hold on a specific part. A guide that only points in one direction is a sales sheet, not a resource.
- Each page carries a revision date. Manufacturing practice does not change quickly, but a page with no date cannot be assessed for trust, so the date is published and updated when the content changes.
Have a question these guides do not answer?
Send the drawing and the question. Answers come back within 1–2 working days, and recurring questions become a new guide.