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No way this is safe right?

Hey r/manufacturing,

My cofounder and I are Berkeley engineering grads interested in working on industrial IoT and predictive maintenance. We keep hearing about predictive maintenance from big vendors, but want to understand what's actually happening on factory floors.

We're curious:

• How do you currently predict/prevent equipment failures?
• What's your biggest maintenance headache?
• Are OEM maintenance contracts worth it?
• How do you handle data from different brands of equipment?
• What systems are you using now?

Not selling anything - we're engineers trying to understand real problems vs what big companies think are problems. We build software and want to learn from your experiences before building anything, feel free to PM me.

TLDR: If you could wave a magic wand and fix one thing about equipment maintenance, what would it be?

I'm looking for a system using thermal visioning that could scan a large shop floor and its machinery and flag if a spot's temperature quickly rises. This could signal a fire, or an issue with the machinery, predicting a failure. There is a company called Viper Imaging. Does anyone have any experience with them or any other solutions available?

I have a product idea. I'm looking for a manufacturer in the UK to make a simple fabric/metal item for me. I haven't been able to find anything online. May I ask if anyone has any recommendations?

Hey all,

Been on the business side of start-ups for a while, but never touched the production side of things. Most businesses I worked with didn't need them.

I'm looking to manufacturer something fairly large (a larger mini fridge size). I understand the technology on a basic level.

It's not something overly complex, think house hold appliance complication (fridge/oven complex more than blender complexity)

1. What should I look for in a manufacturer? The product I'm making isn't something that's mass produced but it is similar to some technology out there, should I look for manufacturers making the most similar thing?

2. Where should I look first? I mean this in 2 ways, the first, I don't even know where to find these companies, the second, I live in Canada, for something of this size, is it better to make here or outsource to somewhere else? Cost wise and quality wise.

3. Questions I should ask a manufacturer?

4. How much more expensive can I expect getting them to manufacture one would be than mass producing? I'll obviously need to see one, use it, make sure the design is right before I mass produce them. I might do 2-3 iterations depending how well the manufacturer does and how well my preliminary research goes.

5. Is there a risk in the manufacturer stealing my product or selling the technology to other vendors? I don't believe it's patentable. How do I protect it? I understand people will copy eventually, but I'd like to be confident in my direct suppliers.

Thanks for all your help, I understand it's vague. Feel free to ask questions!

Hi! I am looking to create Pilates socks/headbands. Manufacturer must be able to add grips on bottom of socks and embellishments such as bows. Fabric/dye must be eco friendly and abide to EU-regulations and guidelines. Manufacturers must be based in the EU. No outsourcing. TYSM! 🥹

Hey, So I am building a tool that automates vendor contracts. With this tool, you can forward contracts directly to a centralized dashboard from your email and key data is automatically extracted. The system then creates vendor profiles, sets up renewal reminders, and organises all your vendor info in one place. Would anyone use this or is it just a pain point for me?

We have a custom manufacturing department that needs a significant overhaul of their entire work area. I need to optimally arrange workbenches, toolboxes, machines, shelf storage, etc. in a small space.

I've been trying to make a model with shapes in excel and it's not optimal in any way. Anyone know of any free software that will help me paper doll and make a plan for the floor layout that isn't Excel?

Wondering if anyone has experience trying to eke more life out of wood thermoforming molds. Considering encapsulating in epoxy. Mahogany molds are cheap as heck compared to aluminum ones, but are only good for runs of about 25 parts. If I can figure a way to make them last bit longer it will make the thermoforming process a lot more accessible to folks with short run jobs. Appreciate the advice.

hi, i’m from asia and am trying to start my own clothing business. do u guys have any reccs for manufacturers for women’s apparels (mainly dresses and tops) that are good quality (detail oriented and does not look cheap)?

Hey everyone,

There’s a live Q&A today with Adam Tripp from Forms+Surfaces and Nick Galardi from One Click LCA about how environmental product declarations (EPDs) are shaping the building materials industry.

They’re covering why EPDs matter, how they help meet regulations and ESG goals, and what’s next for sustainable materials.

If you’re in construction, manufacturing, or sustainability, it’s worth checking out. It’s free, and you can get the recording if you register.

Here’s the link: https://oneclicklca.com/webinars/how-formssurfaces-is-using-epds-to-drive-sustainable-change

Thought some of you might find it useful!

I have a part that I need made low volume, probably 50 or so. PCBWAY can do vacuum casting for about $20 a piece which is fine for me. However from my understanding vacuum casting is done with polyurethane/resins?? PCBWAY makes it seem that they aren't using resins and just normal plastics? Xometry's vacuum casting only calls for "Abs-like, polycarbonate-like" is PCBWAY using resins or actual plastics?

I get how they are made. Conceptually. Copper tube packed with a sand or oxide of some sort, and a resistance wire. But how do they get the sand and wire into the pipe without the wire touching the copper? And is there a us company that manufactures them? Thanks

Hi all! The company I worked for previously only made component parts. One part, one router. If we had an assembly with multiple components we would make the components on their own individual routers. Then, the final assembly would be made on its own router. The company I'm with now has only assembled parts. They're currently creating one router for the whole job: sub-assemblies and final assembly as one. Is this the standard? It seems disjointed, but introducing separate sub-assembly routers might be too daunting as far as tracking, job flow, and scheduling. The parts are also larger than what I'm used to dealing with, so the logistics of moving them through the shop is a challenge. How do you guys handle items with lots of sub-assemblies? How do you wish you handled multiple sub-assemblies? Thank you all for your help!

I'm specifically asking about the part where a flange appears between 2 different sizes

My site has a lot of issues with proper communication flow down from engineering and also within functional groups in operations. We've been a small site for a long time but are experiencing explosive growth and I don't believe the old way of doing things is going to work out for us any longer. I was hoping to get some ideas from the community on what other sites to do to help with communication. I'm hoping to avoid countless useless meetings but don't know a better way right now.

The other issue is that key technicians tend to be left out of meetings. I guess the assumption from leadership is that operations engineering will own the efforts and include them but flow down isn't exactly working. I'm also hoping to get some insight on how to develop a better communication method to our techs on the floor.

I have been in manufacturing for a while now as an engineer but I would like to try developing my own product. I have an idea for a product I would like to try prototyping. However, I don't have the heat treat equipment needed to harden the metal I want to use. I was wondering if anyone is familiar with a heat treat firm in the Chicago/Milwaukee region. Who is willing to do low volume/prototype heat treat work. Region specific do i don't hsve to pay for freight when I'd drive the prototypes to location myself.

I'm familiar with Fox Valley heat treat in Appleton area though i haven't asked them yet about the work. I'm just wondering if anyone has any other options so I can source the work to a few vendors.

I need to weld something to the body of the pot/cup before the magnet is installed. I've been contacting magnet companies but they don't seem to have the product before assembly

Also looking for a manufacturer that can make said modified pot magnet.. for the eventual production of the product

I have patent on file so can answer questions if needed.

I can't seem to find any manufacturing facilities that have rotary kilns available for producing products. Anyone know of any?

Anyone notice that every damn product that uses this type of reseal, is never sealed when it comes and the product goes ABOVE the ziploc seal?

If I'm not explaining it well enough, there's the ziploc level and then above it is the usual packaging seal you need to cut off

So for like protein powders, you cut off the upper seal, the powders are flying everywhere, AND stuck inside the ziploc groove lines making it hard to clean out and actually use the seal.

I don't remember products being like this in my 30+ years of living until these past few years. The ziploc itself was always closed and no products would go above this level. Now every package is a mess and unsanitary because you have to push the product down below

I'm looking for a supplier of tempered and non-tempered glass for a product we're taking into production. Pieces are 19" x 14" x 1/8" and slightly smaller. Two of the parts have holes, 3 pieces total. Our current supplier has been fine for prototyping but cannot get their costs down for larger runs.

I can share drawings and additional details via email. Cost being equal we'd prefer a North America-based supplier because it simplifies logistics, but we're not ruling out anyone or anywhere.

I've spent almost 2 decades working in manufacturing (mainly food and cosmetics), in 3 different countries and 2 different cultures.

While the pain points have been different in different organizations and cultures, two stood out in all of them:

- feedback from the leader
- unfair treatment from leadership

I'm hoping to hear what you think about this question.

It's been some time since I launched my weekly free newsletter to help manufacturing IC and leaders in addition to my LinkedIn content.

It would be great to see you join the list here: https://leanleader.kit.com/landing

You'd get under 5-minutes read time free, actionable tips and advice from my almost 20 years of experience in manufacturing.

Keep growing!!

Hii so basically we were instructed to make a school project and i cant do it without a manufacturer because i have no idea how to make it.. anyways requirements are:

-Is in asia (preferably southeast asia) -can ship to the philippines

And thats all (i think) i need help plz, and if yall cant then please please please reccommend and help me find manufacfurers😭😭

Hello fellow manufacturers,

I recently started a new role as a junior level engineer at a manufacturing plant. The leadership soon realized my resume wasn't just a bunch of lies (I've been working in manufacturing for 20 years) and that I knew what I was doing so they started throwing me more and more projects. It's getting to be a lot but so far I've remained very successful at my role.

To cut to the chase, the pres of the company called me into his (very nice) office and offered me a role as a continuous improvement manager. This would be a new role both for me and a new position at the company. I would have a team under me, 3-4 people, and would need to help find a replacement for my current position whon would also answer to me. I accepted, but made clear that I was still getting used to the company's systems, customer requirements and softwares. The decision was made for me to begin this new role in mid January.

What would those of you in similar positions recommend as a good course of action to be ready for this? Also, any anecdotal stories are welcome. I like this job and want to succeed.