Launching a Product With 3D Printing: Your First 100 Units

The Short Answer

A first run of a few dozen to a few hundred units is where 3D printing fits a product launch. There is no mold to pay for before you know demand, and a design change between batches costs a new file. For a palm-sized part, printing usually beats molding below roughly 100 to 250 units. Past that, once the design is frozen, a mold starts paying for itself.

Why Launches Start Printed

• No tooling bill before your first sale.
• Change the design between batches, after real customers have used it.
• Order what you have sold, rather than a molder's minimum.
• Offer variants such as sizes, colors and fittings without a mold for each.
• Keep selling while the injection mold is being made.

Pricing a Run

The price on the quote page is what checkout charges. The quantity discount grows with the run:

Keeping Batch Two Like Batch One

Every part is printed in our own facility, on our own printers, by the same team. Orders are never brokered out to another shop, which is why a reorder matches the first batch. Every part passes dimensional inspection and visual checks before it ships. Keep the same file, material, color and orientation between batches, and nothing changes that you did not change.

Designing a Product to Be Printed

• Combine parts that a molded design would split. A printed part needs no draft angles or parting lines, so one piece can replace a small assembly.
• Use heat-set inserts for screws that will be removed more than a few times.
• Orient load-bearing features along the layers, because printed parts are weakest across them.
• Choose for the end use: ASA outdoors, PC near heat, SLA resin where a smooth surface sells the product.
• Expect visible layer lines on FDM. If the surface matters, plan for SLA or post-processing.

When to Move to a Mold

Move when three things are true: the design has stopped changing, demand is steady past the break-even, and the part is simple enough to mold. Until then, a printed run is a low-risk way to fund the mold.