Time to read: 4 min
This year’s Eureka Park at CES will be rocking a whole lot of cool new innovations and many of those exhibiting will spend December rushing around trying to figure out how to get their prototypes or samples made. If you’re one of those amazing innovators, we salute you! And to make sure you’re CES ready, here are a few tips to ensure you have the manufacturing horsepower you need.
1. Use a reliable partner who cares – one who can manufacture for you now, your deadline is very real. You’ll need a partner that can make your delivery date and keep you informed at every stage of the process. And one who understands what’s at stake.
2. Keep it simple – don’t forget you’re making a sample that must function, look great, and prove your concept to the show visitors. It doesn’t have to be the final product with built-in reliability and ease of assembly. It might take some rough handling at the show, but it doesn’t have to last forever.
3. Communication is everything – work with a partner that will talk to you all the way through the process. The last thing you want is to call on Christmas Eve and hear a voicemail saying, “Happy Holidays, we’ll be back in the office on January 7th”.
4. Access expertise – try to work with a partner that can help you make sure the design is right quickly and efficiently, and one that will offer advice that will get you to your immediate goals without too much back and forth. If they have broad manufacturing expertise, they may even be able to suggest a different manufacturing method for this prototype. Perhaps you can 3D Print a part this time to get the part faster.
5. Don’t forget Christmas – not just because factories will close for a few days, but you need to find time to kick back and relax, buy a few gifts, and maybe party a little.
6. Get smart on smart products – CES will be full of smart solutions and smart products for smart cities, smart factories, smart hospitals, smart offices and smart homes. So, let’s get smart about how those products are purchased, made and delivered.
If you’re looking to get your parts made before the holiday season hits, make sure to keep Fictiv’s Holiday Schedule in mind:
US-based CNC Production:
Before Christmas: To have your machined part in hand before Christmas, place an order by December 17th at 3:00pm PT and select Overnight Shipping for a 3-day part (or by December 18th at 3:00pm PT if within courier distance of our San Francisco HQ).
Before CES: To have your machined part in hand before CES 2020, place an order by December 26th at 3:00pm PT and select Overnight Shipping for a 3-day part (or by December 27th at 3:00pm PT if within courier distance of our San Francisco HQ).
US-based 3D Printing Production:
Before Christmas: To have your Polyjet or FDM 3D printed part in hand before Christmas, place an order by December 19th at 3:00pm PT and select Overnight Shipping for a 1-day part (or by December 20th at 3:00pm PT if within courier distance of our San Francisco HQ).
Before CES: To have your Polyjet or FDM 3D printed part in hand before CES 2020, place an order by December 30th at 3:00pm PT and select Overnight Shipping for a 1-day part (or by January 2nd, 2020 at 3:00pm PT if within courier distance of our San Francisco HQ).
Overseas CNC Production:
Before Christmas: To have your machined part in hand before Christmas, place an order by December 10th at 3:00pm PT for a 7-day production time, which accounts for international shipping and overseas lead times.
Before CES: To have your machined part in hand before CES 2020, place an order by December 20th at 3:00pm PT for a 7-day production time, which accounts for international shipping and overseas lead times.
Important Note: We have production holidays for Chinese New Year from January 18th, 2020 through February 2nd, 2020. If you’re ordering overseas CNC production and need your machined part in hand before Chinese New Year 2020, place an order by January 8th, 2020 at 3:00pm PT for a 7-day production time, which accounts for international shipping and overseas lead times.
We’re passionate about innovation at Fictiv and we built a digital manufacturing platform connected to our network of pre-vetted manufacturing partners to enable innovators to get custom mechanical parts made and delivered in the shortest time and with the minimum fuss. You can just login, upload and checkout. It’s that easy. Our platform provides expert DFM on-the-fly and intelligently matches demand with the best of our pre-approved manufacturing partners. Beyond the order, we provide visibility and real-time progress updates right up to the moment you receive your parts.
This means even when you’re late because you’re getting that design perfect for CES, we can still deliver manufactured parts on time to help you shine like the innovation rock star you clearly are!
