FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Questions often asked about injection molding and automation. As always, we are here to answer any other questions you have through the contact form or directly by phone.

What is TQM?

TQM stands for Total Quality Management. TQM is a culture in which everyone from high-level executives to level workers focuses on improving quality. Quality is EVERYONE’S job!

What is the difference between invention and product design?

The term “invention” is usually reserved for some product or process that has not been proven or patented before. Product design can certainly be part of an invention. Design is the process that shapes an idea or concept and brings it to something that is visual or tangible. You really cannot invent something without some sort of design concept. They are terms that are not mutually independent.

How do robotics become profitable?

Return on Investment calculations to support the use of robotics often consider only direct labor costs, but many more factors contribute to profitability for companies that employ automation. Reduced scrap or rework due to the repeatability of automation, reduced frequency of inspection required, less supervision required, increased uptime and throughput potential, and opportunities to combine manufacturing processes can all add to the profitability of a program.

What is quality assurance?

Quality assurance (QA) is any systematic process of determining whether a product or service meets the specified requirement. QA is not the actual act of measuring or monitoring a product, it is the act of ensuring this was done correctly.

What is project quality management?

Project quality management is the process of continuously monitoring all quality activities, and performing corrective action until the desired quality is achieved.

What is the difference between domestic vs overseas tooling?

For a long time, there existed significant differences in quality and costs between domestic components and overseas tooling. Those gaps are narrowing, and while the direct costs of overseas tooling hold an advantage over domestic molds, the risks associated with overseas molds are getting higher: namely the protection of intellectual property, ancillary costs like tariffs and transportation, and global challenges to the supply chain, workforce, and pandemic-affected transfers of materials.

What are ideal and minimum quantities for injection molding?

There is no universal rule for minimum quantities when considering injection molding. Generally, with tools costing at least $10,000 for the smallest and simplest parts, production volumes of a few dozen parts or even a few hundred parts can rarely carry a proportion of the capital cost of the molds. It is not uncommon for injection molds to cost between $50,000 and $500,000. In this range, it is expected that production volumes would be at 10,000 units and up.

How do we incorporate robotics?

Noble employs robots in many ways. We use them for work that is complex, but also for quite simple tasks. Depending on the needs of our customers, a robot could be doing very simple repetitive tasks, or working as a central brain to coordinate a number of machines and auxiliaries.

How do we go from idea to product?

Knowing the best manufacturing method for a product idea lets a design be optimized for that process. Often the “best” method isn’t dependent on the part itself, but on commercial considerations like the number of parts needed, timeline to realization, and limits on capital to allow for investment in equipment.

What is the lead time?

Part design can take anywhere from 1 day to several weeks. Complex assemblies with tight tolerances can undergo several rounds of design, prototyping, and testing. Once a design is complete, tooling can take another 8-16 weeks. For simple or small parts, options exist to create low-run or modular tooling in as little as 2 weeks.