 “This service doesn’t make
sense for our company.”
§
If you make large,
simple straight pull molds for casting patterns you’d be right. But for any work orders that call for
smaller (less than 5"), highly detailed parts or those with complex geometries it may
make a great deal of sense. Our greatest
success is with a loyal contingency of customers that see where and when our service is of
value.
“We couldn’t cast rapid
patterns and still be profitable.”
§
This might be the
case. It depends on the job. The answer comes
down to your clients constraints of cost and time. Parts with small
complex geometries or high levels of detail makes sense.
Large simple parts do not. Your
experience with our service best dictates when and if we should be called for a particular job.
“I don’t see how my customers
will benefit?”
§
Actually you might
be surprised how valuable your clients find this service.
For complex designs, some molds cost tens of thousands of dollars and take months
to cut. If the job requires patterns for prototype
castings, parts in hand ahead of the mold offers tremendous value to your clients both in
time & money.
§
pre-production castings are invaluable to customers who need to get parts to market or upper management fast.
Providing them relief is truly appreciated when clients are pressed for time or
under stress of deadlines.
§
Believe it or not
even some production runs using rapid patterns can be profitable. When
internal cavities or complex geometries make it impossible to create conventional molds
[we currently run a few} its an alternative to common design practices. Although running that many rapid patterns seem
expensive and is quite rare, clients may find the cost acceptable if they can produce
category killers (market dominating product designs).
“Our
most successful Rapid Pattern clients realize what their customers want. Providing first article parts in days, instead of
weeks is highly valued by those who need them.”
“But
we’ve tried this type of service before and it couldn’t deliver the accuracy and
detail our customers expect. Only molds can do that.”
§
We cannot contest
the fact that there is nothing that beats the quality of professional tools. Our industry often seems to miss the mark your
industry expects. Sigma TCT is different. The level of accuracy, detail and finish we
routinely achieve often makes it difficult to distinguish between castings made from molds
or our rapid patterns.
“Ok, but why not use other
processes. They’re faster”
§
Just as rough-cut
molds are quicker to create than precision quality molds, this level of accuracy and
attention to detail requires time. Our focus
has not been on comparing our speeds to competitive processes, but on producing the
quality in patterns that your industry expects. Clients
in the investment casting industry have found this trade off acceptable. We have been
successful at providing precision investment castings firms with prototype, pre-
production and full production patterns for over ten years.
“Other processes are less
expensive. We can use them and save some
money”
§
This is a good
point. If your customers find other processes
acceptable we recommend using them. If
however, accuracy and detail are required for a specific order, you may want to explore
our service. Differentiation in quality seems
to be the key factor in gaining repeat clientele both for us, and our clients.
“How much trouble is it to
request a quote?”
§
If you have a valid
Surface IGES or STL file we can return a quote
within 24 hours. Simply email
the file to patterns@sigmatct.com . If a non-disclosure is needed, fax your company
form to 949-723-9017 or fill in our non-disclosure agreement print and fax. We’ll sign it, fax it back and send the wet
copy within twenty-four hours.
“It’s nice to
know that our success is mutual. As clients
become aware of these capabilities a new market space opens for both our Rapid Patterns
and your castings.”
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