Back
We’re thrilled to announce a major update to our online quoting and ordering system: you can now get instant feedback on your part designs for additive and traditional manufacturing, including injection molding, CNC machining, HP Multi Jet Fusion (MJF), Carbon Digital Light Synthesis (DLS)™, Stratasys Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM), and Formlabs Stereolithography (SLA).
Our software automatically checks your part files for issues that will make them hard to manufacture. These checks will help you catch and fix design issues early so you can get your parts made faster and more accurately.
We have some of the best manufacturing experts in the business who’ve put together a thorough set of design for manufacturing checks to ensure your part is production-ready. Our engineers and data scientists worked together to build this library of checks based on our expertise and the data we’ve collected from millions of parts we’ve made over the years.
Our Cloud Manufacturing Platform™ tracks parts from design to manufacturing to fulfillment, so we can see how different design elements contribute to a part’s success or failure. We feed that information back into the system to continually improve our models. The result is automated design checks that get smarter every time you use them.
A data-driven approach to design
When you upload your design, it’s automatically checked for a variety of issues that can impact manufacturability, function, and overall quality. These checks help you identify potential problems early and ensure clear communication about what you can expect from your manufactured part.
- Watertightness
- Thin or thick walls
- Minimum Process Resolution
- Enclosed volumes
- Nestability (DLS, MJF, SLA)
- Rough surface or optical distortions (DLS, MJF, SLA)
- Fragile features (DLS, MJF, SLA)
- Support materials (DLS, SLA)
For CNC machining, the Cloud Manufacturing Platform identifies potential problems with:
- Incomplete files
- Sharp corners
- Deep pockets or slots
- Thin walls
- Standard hole sizes
For injection molding, the Cloud Manufacturing Platform identifies potential problems with:
- Thin or thick walls
- Sharp edges
- Undercuts
- Surface draft
The platform gives you a precise explanation of what each check means to help catch and fix issues early.
Try it out
To get started, all you need to do is upload your design file and choose your manufacturing options. You don’t need to buy any parts from us to use this tool, so feel free to play around with it.
The system will show you if there are any issues with your part. Checks are listed on the right side of the screen. Each check expands to show a more detailed description of the issue. Clicking on a check will highlight that specific issue on your part visualization. If you need help understanding any of the checks, you can contact our team from the same module.
We also show different levels of risk associated with each check. A red X indicator means there’s an issue preventing us from making your part as designed. If you’re not sure how to fix the issue, you can submit your part through a manual quote so our team can take a look.
Orange exclamation point (!) indicators are our way of flagging elements in your design that might cause issues. Our team sees these checks too, so they’ll let you know if they anticipate any major issues.
Once your part passes the necessary checks, you can order it right away. You can also submit a manual quote request to start a conversation with our experts. Give it a try. We’d love to hear what you think, so feel free to contact us with any feedback or suggestions.
Upload your parts today
These automated design checks are just a taste of what’s to come from the Fast Radius Cloud Manufacturing Platform in the next few months. We’re continuously adding more checks and features to make manufacturing easier and more accessible. Check back with us soon for new features that continue to get you parts faster and easier than ever.
Visit the Fast Radius resource center to learn design best practices, including CNC machining design guidelines, an injection molding design checklist, and more.