Consumer Goods Industry
A consumer product has to do three things at once. Look right on the shelf. Feel right in the hand. Land on a unit cost that still leaves margin.
CNC machining, 3D printing, injection molding and sheet metal. Small appliances, drinkware, personal care, audio, outdoor and pet products. One supplier from the first sample to the first container.
What we make
Most consumer products are a shell, a few functional parts, and something that has to look perfect. These are the eight categories we quote every week.
Kettle bodies, coffee maker shells, air fryer drawers, handles, bases and trim rings. Textured ABS and PP that hide fingerprints.
Tumblers, bottle lids, cutlery handles, cookware knobs and pot clips. Food-contact grades, dishwasher-safe finishes.
Shaver bodies, toothbrush handles, razor heads, cosmetic caps and pumps. Soft-touch overmolding and living hinges.
Speaker grilles, wall mounts, sensor housings, button caps and hubs. Fine mesh, matte texture, tight seam lines.
Cooler latches, camping hardware, bike mounts, garden tool grips. UV-stable resin and corrosion-proof hardware.
Feeder hoppers, bowl rings, crate latches, chew-resistant housings. Thick walls, no sharp parting lines.
Hinges, drawer pulls, shelf pins, leg brackets and frame tubes. Powder coated steel and anodised aluminium.
Watch cases, clips, buckles, phone stands and keyring parts. Small, precise, and often the first thing a buyer touches.
What decides whether it sells
Consumer goods are not hard to machine. They are hard to make cheaply, consistently, and good looking at the same time. These six points decide that.
A scratch on the front is a defect. The same scratch inside is not. We grade each surface A, B or C on the drawing instead of grading the whole part.
Wall thickness, draft angle and part count set your piece price long before we send a number. Fixing them at DFM is free. Fixing them after tooling is not.
Two batches that do not match look like two suppliers. We match to a Pantone or RAL chip with masterbatch and read Delta E on every lot.
A part that survives a drop on its own can still fail inside a carton. We build to ISTA 1A or 2A and fix the insert, not just the plastic.
Food contact, child safety, REACH. One missing declaration stops a container at the port, and the season does not wait for paperwork.
Tooling is always the critical path. We lock the tool date first, then work backwards to sample approval, production and the sailing date.
01CNC Machining
For metal and plastic parts where the surface is seen and the volume is still low. No tooling, real material, and a finish you can put in front of a buyer.
Visible faces cut in one setup. No step lines running across a front panel, no mismatch where two setups meet.
5-axis machining →Knobs, rings, bottle necks, pen barrels and bezels. Held to ±0.02 mm with a Ra 0.8 µm finish straight off the tool.
CNC turning →Clear PMMA, PC, POM, ABS and PEI. Cut, then polished back to optical clarity for windows and light guides.
Precision machining →Bead blast, brushed grain, anodised dye colours, laser engraving and pad print. The finish is what the buyer judges.
CNC machining →Metals and plastics we machine for consumer parts
| Material | Where it earns its place | Finish that fits |
|---|---|---|
| 6061-T6 aluminium | Housings, handles, bases, trim rings | Clear or black anodise, bead blast |
| 7075 aluminium | Thin walls, wear parts, tripod fittings | Hard anodise, polished edges |
| 304 / 316 stainless | Kitchen tools, wet areas, bottle parts | Brushed, electropolished |
| Brass H62 | Rings, inserts, decorative hardware | Polish and lacquer, nickel plate |
| PMMA (acrylic) | Clear windows, display covers, light guides | Polished to optical, hard coat |
| PC (polycarbonate) | Impact covers, translucent panels | Vapour polish, matte bead blast |
| POM (Delrin) | Gears, sliders, rollers, latches | As machined, tumble deburr |
| ABS | Cheap painted housings, mock-ups | Primer and paint, texture paint |
Finishes you can pick from
023D Printing
For shape, fit and feel before you pay for steel. A printed model in your hand settles arguments that a render cannot.
Smooth skins, fine logos and 0.05 mm layers. The fastest way to hold a design and photograph it for a buyer.
SLA printing →Tough, snap-fit ready, no tooling. Good for 10 to 500 units of a real end-use part while the mold is cut.
SLS printing →Stainless, aluminium and titanium. Real metal for drop tests, hinge cycles and heat checks before machining.
SLM printing →Primer, paint, dye, polish and texture. You judge the look before the tool is cut, not after.
3D printing services →Choosing a print process
| Process | Detail and surface | Best for | Typical lead time |
|---|---|---|---|
| SLA | 0.05 mm layers, smooth | Appearance models, fine logos, clear parts | 2–4 days |
| DLP | 0.03 mm layers, sharp edges | Small precise parts, button caps | 2–4 days |
| SLS | 0.1 mm, uniform matte | Brackets, snap fits, living hinges | 3–5 days |
| MJF | 0.08 mm, slightly grainy | Small-batch nylon end-use parts | 3–6 days |
| SLM | 0.03–0.05 mm, blasted | Metal prototypes, thin lattice, hinges | 5–8 days |
| FDM | 0.2 mm, visible layers | Jigs, fixtures, rough mock-ups | 1–3 days |
STL, STEP or OBJ. We check wall thickness before printing.
03Injection Molding
Where unit cost and repeatability decide the launch. We build the bridge tool to prove the market, then the production tool to serve it.
Aluminium or soft steel, 100 to 10,000 parts. Prove the market and the colour before you commit to a hardened tool.
Rapid tooling →Multi-cavity hardened steel for 100k to 1M shots. Balanced runner, cooling where the warp actually happens.
Injection molding →MT and VDI grain, gloss levels from matte to high, masterbatch matched to Pantone or RAL with Delta E on every lot.
Molding services →Soft-touch TPE grips, moulded-in metal inserts, in-mold labels and two-shot parts that skip assembly.
Insert molding →Resins we run most for consumer parts
| Resin | Typical part | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| ABS | Appliance shells, toys, housings | Paints easily, but yellows in strong UV |
| PC | Clear covers, tough bodies | Must be dried, high melt temperature |
| PC/ABS | Device bodies, power tool housings | Good balance of toughness and finish |
| PP | Lids, living hinges, food containers | Cheap and food safe, but low surface energy |
| HDPE | Bottles, caps, cutting boards | Waxy feel, hard to glue or print on |
| PA66 + 30% GF | Structural frames, motor mounts | Stiff, but shrinkage differs by flow direction |
| POM | Gears, latches, rollers | Low friction, very hard to bond |
| TPE / TPU | Grips, seals, soft-touch skins | Bonds to PP or ABS only with the right grade |
| PMMA | Light pipes, display windows | Optical clarity, but scratches easily |
How a tool moves from steel to shipment
Parts come off the new tool. We check fit, colour and texture, then list every change with a photo of each face.
Changes cut into the tool. Cosmetic parts are approved against the master sample you signed.
Cycle time, gate freeze and packing pressure written down, so the next run repeats the first one.
Production with SPC on key dimensions, AQL cosmetic check and a tool maintenance schedule.
Send the part and the annual volume. We quote tool and unit price separately.
04Sheet Metal
Frames, housings and brackets where strength per dollar beats looks per part. Cut, bent, welded and coated in one shop.
±0.1 mm on cut features, ±0.5° on bends. Flat patterns nested to keep scrap and cost down.
Laser cutting →MIG, TIG and spot. Jigged so every frame squares up the same way, which is what assembly actually needs.
Welding →RAL matched, 60 to 90 µm, smooth or textured. Holds up in a kitchen, a garden and a warehouse.
Sheet metal →Logos, labels, hardware and hinges fitted before packing. Shipped as a kit or as a finished unit.
Assembly →Sheet materials and thicknesses
| Material | Thickness | Typical part |
|---|---|---|
| SPCC cold rolled steel | 0.5–3.0 mm | Internal brackets, painted covers |
| SECC / SGCC | 0.5–2.0 mm | Housings that skip the paint line |
| 5052 aluminium | 0.8–4.0 mm | Light covers, outdoor panels |
| 6061 aluminium | 1.0–6.0 mm | Structural brackets, base plates |
| 304 stainless | 0.5–3.0 mm | Kitchen, wet areas, food contact |
| 316 stainless | 0.5–3.0 mm | Marine, chemical, outdoor hardware |
| Brass and copper | 0.3–2.0 mm | Decorative trim, conductive parts |
| Galvanised steel | 0.6–2.5 mm | Cost-driven frames and stands |
Choosing a route
Same part, four different answers, depending on how many you need and when you need them. This is the table we use on the phone.
| Part or situation | Best route | Why | Typical lead time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Appearance model for a trade show | SLA plus paint | Fast, smooth, looks final in photos | 3–5 days |
| 50 units for a backer or buyer test | MJF or CNC | No tooling, real material, real feel | 5–8 days |
| 2,000 units of a plastic shell | Bridge tool | Tool cost spread over the run | 15–20 days |
| 100,000 units of the same shell | Production tool | Lowest unit cost and best repeatability | 35–45 days |
| Metal knob or ring, 500 pieces | CNC turning | No tool, tight tolerance, anodised | 7–10 days |
| Steel frame or stand, 300 pieces | Sheet metal | Strength per dollar, no tooling | 10–14 days |
Tell us the volume and the date. We will say if a cheaper route exists.
What you can hold us to
These are the numbers we quote against. If your drawing needs something outside them, say so early and we will tell you honestly whether we can hold it.
| Item | What we hold | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Machined tolerance | ±0.02 mm | ±0.005 mm on request, on a defined datum |
| Molded tolerance | ±0.05 mm | Depends on resin, wall and gate position |
| Surface roughness | Ra 0.8–3.2 µm machined | Ra 0.4 µm on polished faces |
| Minimum molded wall | 0.8–1.2 mm | Thinner walls risk short shots and warp |
| Colour match | Delta E ≤ 1.0 | Measured on a spectrophotometer under D65 |
| Cosmetic grade | A, B or C per surface | Written on the drawing, never assumed |
| Tool life | 100k–1M shots | Depends on steel grade and abrasive resin |
| First article report | 3–5 days after T0 | Full dimensional report with photos |
Quality and paperwork
A buyer does not just buy parts. They buy the evidence that the parts are the same as the sample they approved. That is what this section is about.
AQL 1.0 on major defects, 2.5 on minor. Inspected under 800 to 1200 lux at 45 degrees, the way a retailer's QA team will do it.
Spectrophotometer under D65 light. Delta E recorded per lot and filed against the carton number, so a complaint can be traced.
ISTA 1A or 2A on the packed carton, not the bare part. If it fails, we change the insert before we change the plastic.
FDA 21 CFR 177 and LFGB declarations, CPSIA tracking labels, phthalate and heavy-metal test reports from accredited labs.
Resin grade, lot number, machine and shift recorded against every carton. If a batch is questioned, we know exactly where it went.
Tool drawings, steel certificates, shot counter and maintenance log. The file travels with the tool, wherever it goes next.
Where we fit
Being clear about the boundary saves both of us a month. If your project sits outside it, we will say so at the quote stage.
If your program needs any of the items listed above, tell us at RFQ. We will point you at the right kind of supplier instead of costing you a launch date.
How a project runs
A consumer launch moves in rounds. Each round answers one question, and each one ends with a decision you can put in writing.
Drawing review, cosmetic grade agreed, tool and unit price split out. Back in 24 hours on business days.
First shots, 5 to 20 pieces. We photograph every visible face and list what changes before steel is touched.
Steel corrected, master sample signed, texture and colour locked. From here, changes cost real money.
Volume run with AQL checks, packing tested, cartons labelled the way your retailer asked.
Tell us the part, the volume and the date you need it. You will get a DFM note and a price, not a brochure. NDA signed before we open the file.
Questions we get every week