How Gloggner Uses DFM Principles to Save Customers Time and Money
In the manufacturing industry, it’s common for engineers to create designs that look good on paper but are costly to manufacture.
But there’s good news: at Gloggner Metal Fabricators, we’re always thinking about how to minimize fabricating costs for our customers.
Using Design for Manufacturing (DFM) principles, our experienced fabricators consider ways to optimize part designs for manufacturing. Something as simple as substituting a different material or reducing a radius by 1/16” can sometimes cut costs in half.
To some metal fabrication shops, reducing costs that much might seem like bad business sense. But not to GMF.
We’re dedicated to earning trust—not maximizing profits.
Engineering Challenges in Metal Fabrication
Custom metal fabrication services aren’t as straightforward as they appear. Fabricators consider many challenges that engineers don’t, like the weight and hardness of a particular metal and how those factors can affect manufacturing.
For example, an engineer might design a tube using hard metal to withstand the force of gravel funneling down the shaft. Fabricators understand that hard metals are brittle and difficult to bend. Cutting and welding may also be required, increasing the customer’s costs.
We view ourselves as a resource for engineers. Engineers are experts in physics, safety strategies, and material sciences. Metal fabrication isn’t their expertise, and that’s where we can add value to our relationship.
That’s why it’s so important that engineers and fabricators work together.
The Value of Collaborating with Your Metal Fabrication Shop
The saying “two heads work better than one” definitely applies to engineers and fabricators. Engineering expertise is essential to ensuring parts function properly, and fabrication knowledge is needed to make informed, cost-effective choices.
Collaboration between engineers and fabricators during the prototype-to-production process is crucial to achieving a design that meets customer needs without breaking the bank.
GMF’s dedication to customer satisfaction motivates us to collaborate with customers to optimize part designs for manufacturing. We suggest multiple solutions because if there’s one thing we’ve learned in this business, it’s that there’s more than one way to solve a problem.
We’re committed to ensuring that every person who works with our metal fabrication shop walks away feeling confident they received the best deal and the highest quality possible.
How GMF Minimizes Costs for Customers
No one understands our process better than us—and we’re good at finding ways to optimize that process for every customer.
GMF’s quoting process links labor and costs—the time required to manufacture a part is directly proportional to its cost.
More often than not, we can cut costs by making small changes following DFM principles.
Common examples of these changes include:
Substituting a non-standard tube for a standard size
Choosing a more readily available material that still fits the requirements
Modifying a feature so it can be machined using standard instead of custom tooling
All of these changes decrease costs, lead times, and headaches by simplifying manufacturing.
Building Trust through Transparency
At GMF, we’re not interested in overcharging customers for problems we can solve. Our experienced fabrication team is always on the lookout for ways to optimize designs and save customers time and money.
When engineers and fabricators collaborate effectively, the result is a cost-effective and functional design. We consider DFM principles with every order because every customer matters to us—whether it's their first or thirtieth time working with GMF.
We approach every quote request with one question:
“How can we delight this customer?”
And then we do.
Request a quote to work with us.