Clear Cost Advantage
With no tooling investment required, SLS is the most efficient solution in this band on both time and cost.
MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY & FLEET
Low & Mid Volume Production
Tool-free batch production from 1 to 5,000+ units.
With no tooling investment, a single part costs the same per unit as a batch of thousands. Revisions are free: a design change needs a new file, not a new mould. Ideal for spare parts and low-volume series.
UNIT COST CURVE
The same economics at every quantity, with no tooling investment
The tooling investment lands on the first part. Unit cost only becomes reasonable at high volumes; at low volumes the cost per part is severe.
With no tooling there is no upfront investment. Unit cost stays in the same band at 1 part and at 500.
The curve illustrates the relationship; exact cost is calculated at quotation from geometry, material, and quantity.
BREAK-EVEN ANALYSIS
Which method at which quantity?
Traditional injection moulding demands a high upfront investment — mould design and steel machining are paid for before production starts. Industrial SLS begins at zero tooling cost.
Critical Threshold and Geometric Freedom
The band where the break-even point shifts with design complexity. For geometries with internal channels, organic forms, or undercuts, SLS can hold its cost advantage up to 3,000 parts.
Decision criterion
In industrial plastic part production, the typical break-even threshold for amortising tooling is taken as 1,000 parts. Below that, tooling investment carries real financial risk; low and mid volume additive production protects your capital and leaves room to revise the product.
SERIES PRODUCTION ADVANTAGES04 / 04
- 01
Zero Tooling Investment
Start production straight from CAD data, with no budget committed to steel or aluminium injection moulds.
- 02
Scalable Batch Management
Run 50 parts or 2,500 as the need dictates, with the flexibility of on-demand manufacturing.
- 03
Immediate Design Revision
Changing a production mould is close to impossible. In additive series production the CAD model can be updated for every batch, so the product keeps improving.
- 04
Fast Time to Market
Reach end-use part quality within days, without waiting the weeks that tooling preparation demands.
BATCH SCALES03 / 03
1 – 10
One-off and Sample Runs
A spare part, field sample, or single custom fixture — produced the same week, with no tooling wait.
10 – 500
Low Volume Series
Components for systems built in limited numbers. When a revision lands, the file updates instead of the mould.
500 – 5,000+
Mid Volume Series
Produced in batches with build volume packing optimised; the delivery schedule is planned around quantity.
WHO IT SUITS06 / 06
Market Testing
Startups and research teams launching the first commercial version of a product to gather field feedback.
Niche and Custom Production
Industrial machine components and spare parts whose annual volume is too low to amortise tooling, yet higher than a one-off prototype.
Bridge Production
Market entry is not delayed while series tooling is built; urgent demand is met additively until the mould comes online.
Spare Parts and Service
Discontinued parts, or parts whose tooling no longer exists, are rebuilt from the digital archive — removing the need to hold stock.
Variant Product Families
No separate mould per variant. Different sizes and configurations can run together in the same batch.
Frequently Revised Parts
For components whose design has not settled, each revision carries no tooling cost — the change stays at file level.
BATCH CONSISTENCY
Every build runs a closed thermal cycle with the powder recovery ratio under control. Parts produced from the same file in different batches return repeatable dimensional and mechanical results.
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