Mechanical design is the translation of «this looks good» into «this can be made, assembled and held to tolerance», and mold making is where that translation turns into money. The PBDP mechanical team engineers parts in SolidWorks and CATIA, sets the tolerances that matter, and supervises injection-mold and metal-tool fabrication all the way to the first production shots.

What this service covers

We convert an appearance model into an engineered set of components—housing, lid, PCB carrier, shaft, gasket, clips—and pick a manufacturing route for each: injection molding, die casting, sheet metal, machining or pressing. Projects usually fail on unglamorous details: a forgotten draft angle, a radius below the minimum for the chosen process, or a boss that sinks on the visible face. Those decisions are made here, before steel is cut.

Why keeping design and tooling in one team matters

When the designer and the toolmaker sit together, choices are made against real cost: cavity count derived from annual volume, steel grade derived from abrasion and expected shot life, gate location derived on the visible surface. Mold-flow analysis runs on the screen rather than surprises arriving on the T1 sample, where each correction means welding, re-machining and lost weeks.

Deliverables

• Engineered 3D model: every part with draft, uniform wall thickness, ribs and tool access defined.
• Toleranced drawings: critical dimensions, geometric tolerancing and surface finish matched to function.
• Simulation: stress, creep and cavity-fill studies for load-bearing and cosmetic parts.
• Tooling RFQ package: steel spec, cavitation, cooling layout, mold base size and acceptance criteria for the shop.
• Trial supervision (T1–T3): dimension correction, polishing and sample sign-off with your representative present.
• Assembly jigs and test fixtures: production aids handed over with technical documentation.

From model to mass production

1. Aesthetics model review together with industrial design and shop constraints.
2. Process and tooling-cost decision: molding versus casting versus machining, based on volume.
3. Detailed design: parts, assembly stack, tolerance stack-up and DFM review.
4. Tool and fixture fabrication: shop selection, weekly progress checks, machining inspections.
5. Trial, correction, release: dimensional, cosmetic and functional approval, then line ramp-up.

Frequently asked questions

What drives the price of an injection mold?

Five things: part size, cavity count, steel grade and heat treatment, core complexity including lifters and slides, and the required surface finish. A single-cavity hand-tool in pre-hardened steel is a fraction of a four-cavity automotive tool, so we ask for annual volume first and design the tool around it.

We have a physical part but no CAD—can you work from it?

Yes. 3D scanning and reverse engineering produce an editable model, and we typically correct the weaknesses of the original part along the way: less weight, fewer undercuts, cheaper assembly.

What is the biggest risk in a tooling project?

Design changes after cutting starts. We control it with a signed design-freeze checklist, a joint DFM review with the tool shop, and prototype validation before the mold base is ordered.

Where to start

Send us the part or the drawing for a manufacturability assessment and tooling estimate through our contact page, and see related engineering routes under our services.