Cost Reduction

Often the cost of manufacturing can be reduced substantially if you put the time into thinking creatively. Here are a few approaches:

Miscellaneous

• Check pricing on different materials and use popular materials. Harder materials (e.g. stainless steel) are usually more expensive than softer materials (e.g. aluminum, plastic, etc.).
• For high quantities consider splitting a job to two orders - a small run with faster delivery and the main run with slower delivery.
• Use 2D parts made from sheet material instead of 3D parts made from block material. Bolt together a stack of 2D parts or bend 2D parts to make 3D shapes. 
• Instead of machining text use a pressure sensitive label or silk screening.
• Make parts multi-functional so you can have less different parts in your product or project.
• Increase quantity to substantially reduce cost per part.
• Use the loosest applicable tolerance.
• Use common and simple finishes. Avoid multiple finishes.
• Create multiple parts as one object and saw apart as a secondary process.
• Convert single complex parts into multiple simpler parts that are bolted or press fit together. For example, to create a large disk with a thin rod protruding from the center can be done in one piece or by doing the disk and rod separately. To do it in one piece requires starting with a large block of material and might therefore use ten times as much material as making the rod and disk separately.
• Tap holes no deeper than three times the diameter when the hole and bolt are the same material (deeper adds no strength and can substantially increase cost).

Geometry

• Make shapes simpler or smaller.
• Design shapes that don't waste material. For example, a large U shaped part might be more efficient in three separate sections to avoid wasting the material in the center.
• Avoid sharp inside and outside corners.
• Increase the radius of inside and outside corners. 
• For 3D parts minimize the number of different hole diameters.
• Avoid fine details in shapes.
• Avoid shapes with long protrusions, thin shapes, shapes with lots of material removed, etc.
• Avoid the need for complex work-holding. Rectangular parts are the most practical. Round parts requiring milling are a little more difficult. Shapes with complex outer shapes are the most time consuming to setup for holding.
• Make narrow slots and channels wider - narrow areas require small cutting tools which work slowly.
• Avoid adding explicit chamfers or rounding to edges in a CAD design as edges are normally broken by more economical methods.

Specific to 2D parts

• For parts cut from sheet material, get several different part shapes out of the same sheet.
  
• Create bends by making slots that decrease strength at the bend location and then bend the parts manually after delivery. (Simply remove the bend lines and in place of each bend line draw a few thin rectangles. For 1/16" 5052 aluminum and a 1" wide flange it is recommended to leave approximately 0.5" of material along the manual bend. Adjust accordingly for other thicknesses, other materials and other flange widths.)
• Design bent parts to pack efficiently. For example, in designing a large box consider making the sides of the box separate with bolted flanges. Packing efficiency is more important with larger parts. Parts with one bend generally pack much better than parts with two bends. Bends with angles greater than 90 may pack better than those with 90 degree bends.
• For holes that are close to an outside or inside edge, some processes will be more efficient by merging the hole with the edge into one contour, so as to reduce the number of times the material must be pierced.
• Reduce sheet thickness.
  

See cost reduction tips that apply specifically to eMachineShop.