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08.26.21 | 5 min read

Four Benefits of Metal Stamping and Plastic Overmolding Under One Roof

Combining metal stamping services and plastic overmolding services is a win-win situation for manufacturing companies. When one partner can handle both plastic molding and sheet metal stamping, you’re able to streamline the supply chain and boost quality at the same time. Manufacturing companies often have to choose between superior products and faster workflows, but this is an opportunity to choose both, instead of sacrificing one for the other. These types of supply chain victories are made possible by selecting a supplier that can address multiple requirements simultaneously.

The benefits of combining metal stamping and plastic overmolding generally fall into four categories.

Streamlined Purchasing Process

Using a single supplier creates a leaner supply chain, making the entire workflow simpler and more predictable. Your job becomes more complicated every time you add another supplier to juggle, another contract to negotiate, and another invoice to process. Simplifying those workflows for your purchasing team boosts morale and can improve employee retention. 

Beyond the long-term benefits of reducing employee churn, there are immediate reductions in risk, administrative work, and expenses. When the process contains fewer steps and is easier to manage, the likelihood of costly mistakes is dramatically reduced. Even more immediately, the first visible benefit of working with a single profit center is often the associated cost reduction that comes with consolidating suppliers.

Enhanced Parts Quality

By using a single supplier that is responsible for the end product, there’s zero diffusion of responsibility. There’s no chance of a blame game that has you and your team running back and forth looking for the root of a problem. Either you receive the correct parts and the quality is of an acceptable level, or you know exactly who is at fault. The increase in accountability dramatically reduces errors, and any problems that do occur are much easier to resolve. 

Design for Manufacturability

A single company that offers access to both metal stamping and plastic injection molding experts facilitates advanced design solutions to account for the nuances of both processes. For example, overmolded parts require tight tolerances to achieve a perfect fit. When the margin of error is measured in hundredths or thousandths of a millimeter, there’s no room for misunderstandings between teams.

Just as combining services under one roof boosts accountability, it also minimizes opportunities for communication breakdowns and the production of incompatible parts. Following the design for manufacturability (DFM) practice is one of the best ways to avoid wasting parts. Scrap parts are a waste of both time and resources, so eliminating them boosts the bottom line in two ways at once.

Especially when combined with the superior quality that comes from increased accountability, enhanced ability to design for manufacturability yields clear enhancements to the finished product.

  • Material bonds are stronger. Compared to parts that are created in multiple steps, parts created by compatible processes under one roof are more cohesive. Stronger bonds directly translate to more durable, dependable parts.
  • Finished parts look and function better. The resulting product looks like a single unit instead of multiple pieces that were cobbled together. Increased cohesion also makes each part more reliable because there are fewer opportunities for breakage or other types of failure.
  • Reduced need for assembly. Manufacturing companies that reduce dependence on assembly are tasked with managing one less process. Removing downstream assembly from the workflow saves time and resources that can be reallocated for other purposes. 

With more control over quality and more confidence in the manufacturability of parts, it becomes much easier for your team to focus on forward-facing projects. 

Reduced Lead Times

Finding a single company to handle sheet metal stamping and plastic overmolding services eliminates the need to transport parts between suppliers. A supply chain never benefits from the time spent shipping materials, even if everything ships and arrives on time. Once you start adding missed lead times and communication breakdowns, bottlenecks and delays become almost unavoidable. 

Combining multiple services eliminates at least one shipping step in your supply chain process, making room for dependent steps to move forward in the workflow. Optimizing your upstream operations will ultimately get finished products in the hands of your consumers that much earlier and more reliably. At the same time, you’re reducing your supply network’s carbon footprint and shipping costs.

Ready to Combine Metal Stamping and Plastic Overmolding Services?

Manufacturers may receive even more than these four benefits after combining sheet metal stamping and plastic overmolding. In many cases, meeting supplier optimization objectives opens doors to even more competitive advantages. By employing experts in the fields of plastic overmolding and metal stamping, you’re better able to earn the trust of your clients and their customers. If you’re ready to expedite your supply chain, eliminate lead time, and gain access to parts of a higher quality, it might be time to consolidate your suppliers.

When you form a partnership with LMC Industries, our teams work to prevent problems proactively and create products that live up to your expectations as well as our own. Our engineers have nearly a century of combined experience with plastic overmolding and metal stamping services. 

Our commitment to consistency has allowed us to serve manufacturers in the automotive, consumer goods, and electronics industries. As a seamless supply chain partner, we design and fabricate parts that meet your quality, lead time, and total cost needs.

Connect with us today to discover what we can do to make your next project a success.

Article | Metals | Plastics

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