Optimizing Your Custom Machine Design for Production

At Gemini Industrial, we build custom machines that help customers with production challenges that standard equipment can’t solve. Often, we partner with customers who have little more than an idea or a process bottleneck, and we can turn that concept into a functional machine.

But other customers come to us at a different stage. They already have a working early design, but they need to be sure it can be manufactured efficiently and cost-effectively at higher volumes. 

By combining engineering support with our in-house sheet metal fabrication and machine building experience, we can help you optimize your design for production.

From Working Prototype to Production-Ready Machine

Recently, a customer came to Gemini with a machine he had already developed as a prototype. The machine had proven its value in its excellent functionality, and he had already begun selling to end users. But as more orders came in, he realized that it was still too difficult and time-consuming to build. Demand was outpacing his ability to manufacture the product.

The customer approached Gemini for support in optimizing his design. We helped redesign the machine so it could be manufactured more efficiently without affecting the functionality that so many customers were already excited about.

Applying Engineering and Fabrication Expertise

Gemini is well suited for this type of redesign work because of our combined engineering and fabrication capabilities:

• Our engineering team understands how design decisions affect manufacturing time, cost, consistency, and assembly. 

• Our sheet metal fabrication capabilities allow us to produce many machine components in-house, giving us greater control over quality and lead times.

Common Methods of Optimization in Machine Building Services

For this project, the machine was built largely from sheet metal fabricated parts, and that created even more opportunities to improve the design with our capabilities. Two of the most notable changes we made were:

Improving Repeatability with Laser-Cut Features

One of the most important improvements involved the machine’s many bolted components. Previously, holes for these components had been manually drilled. That approach may work for a prototype or a very small number of units, but it becomes inefficient as production increases.

Gemini redesigned the relevant parts so the holes could be laser cut instead. This improved consistency and repeatability and significantly reduced the amount of production time required for each machine.

Reducing Cost Through Smarter Part Design

Another common opportunity in custom machine optimization is replacing expensive purchased components with fabricated alternatives. For example, a design may use purchased angle or other off-the-shelf structural pieces when a laser-cut and formed component could perform the same function more efficiently.

In this case, Gemini changed certain angle pieces into laser-cut and formed sheet metal components. This significantly reduced the cost of each machine.

Let’s Discuss Your Custom Machine Design

If you have an early design or existing machine that needs to be optimized for production, Gemini Industrial can help. Our team can identify opportunities for improvement and help you create a more manufacturable final product.

If you’re looking for an expert custom machine builder, contact us today to discuss your challenges!