February 20, 2024
Intro
With any aerospace and defense project, there are multiple steps and milestones you have to reach before you start with the final production of your parts. It almost always starts with a prototyping phase, then jumps through a few rounds of iterations, and then a final production phase. While many companies will choose a number of different machine shops to walk through this process, plenty of companies only use Rapid Axis from prototyping all the way through final production.
In this guide, we’ll explain why it’s so useful to stick with Rapid Axis from prototyping to final production. You’ll understand the benefit of working with us for your aerospace and defense project, and you’ll see the value in choosing a single machine shop to handle all of your manufacturing needs.
Simplifies the Process
A lot of feedback that we get from our clients is that it’s incredibly easy to work with us. For starters, we remove the need to shop elsewhere for your manufacturing needs, since we offer so many services. We offer CNC machining, 3D printing, urethane casting, aerospace sheet metal fabrication, injection molding, and countless finishing steps all under one roof. Many other machine shops are limited and will need to refer you to other shops to handle specific parts of your project.
With us, it’s easy. We’ll make and deliver your prototype, make as many iterations as you’d like, make a proof-of-concept part, and also handle your full-scale production all in-house.
No Mistakes Associated with Project Hand-Off
As you probably know, there’s a huge risk every time you have to hand the project off between companies. In a lot of cases, an aerospace company will work with Machine Shop A to make prototype parts, then go to Machine Shop B for production.
But, there’s no easy way to get information from Machine Shop A to Machine Shop B. Maybe the first shop had to use special CNC machine setups and unique fabrication steps that they didn’t tell you about. Suddenly, the second shop makes mistakes that the first one didn’t, and you’re back at square one.
Instead of wasting time and money hopping between shops and hoping you remember everything to tell them, you can stick with a single shop. At Rapid Axis, you don’t have to worry about us handing off the project to another shop since we handle everything ourselves.
Keep Your Project Details Secret
Another benefit is that you don’t have to worry about your company secrets being shared with multiple different machine shops. We know how sensitive projects within the aerospace and defense sectors can be, and we take company secrets very seriously.
You can trust Rapid Axis to keep your project details and intellectual property safe. We can’t say the same for other machine shops out there.
Save Time on Each Step
If you have to wait for four different machine shops to coordinate their efforts to walk through your project’s manufacturing needs, you’ll be wasting a ton of time. Many shops have a queue that you’ll have to wait in, and you go to the back of the line whenever you start working with another shop.
That means four different times that you have to wait for CNC machining availability just to get to the production phase of your project.
With Rapid Axis, you don’t have to worry about that. Going from prototype parts to full-scale aerospace sheet metal fabrication is as simple as our machinist running the same machine two different times. You don’t have to waste your time when you work with us.
Saves You Lots of Money
One of the biggest reasons to stick with one shop for your full project is the money-saving aspect of single-source machining. Since you’re giving us a bigger project to work with, we can afford to reduce your costs a lot, since bigger projects come with smaller overhead costs.
By sticking with Rapid Axis, there’s no saying how much money you can save. While our prices are always reasonable, tackling entire aerospace sheet metal fabrication projects with us is even more cost-effective.
A Single Go-To Manufacturing Contact
Finally, there’s something to be said about keeping your Rolodex thin. With Rapid Axis, you only have to remember one phone number and email address for all of your manufacturing needs. It’s much better than trying to remember which shop did your prototyping, which one handled your powder coating, who did your second iteration of the part, and so on. With a single go-to manufacturing contact, you just have to remember “Rapid Axis”.
We’re here to make your life easier, save you money, and get you the best results for your project.
Conclusion
As you learned, our team at Rapid Axis can handle every manufacturing step from the initial prototype to the final production run. Our full-service machine shop can handle fast prototyping and high-demand production, all under the same roof. Sticking with us will likely save you time, cost you less, lead to fewer headaches, and keep your company secrets, secret.
Reach out today to see how we can help, and get a free quote to get started. Our team is always here to help, and we’ve assisted with countless aerospace and defense projects in the past.