Home / Research & Development
Research & Development
Alongside production, TekComp runs an ongoing programme of research and development into how plastic parts are manufactured — new processes, new materials and better tooling.
Better parts, made more economically
Every production job teaches us something. We feed that back into a structured development effort aimed at reducing tooling cost, shortening lead times, cutting scrap and opening up parts that were previously impractical to mould.
Customers benefit directly: when you bring us a component, the process behind it has usually already been refined on our own trials.
Focus areas
- Rapid and bridge tooling — from printed and machined inserts
- Material substitution, including recycled and bio-based polymers
- Process parameter optimisation and cycle-time reduction
- Combining additive manufacturing with conventional moulding
- Design-for-manufacture and part consolidation
- Measurement, inspection and process monitoring methods
A development route for new parts
Feasibility & concept
We assess the part, the target volume and the commercial envelope, then propose a manufacturing route.
Prototype & trial tooling
3D-printed and machined prototype tools let us produce representative parts in the intended material before committing to production steel.
Process proving
We run structured trials — varying parameters, measuring results on the CMM and documenting a repeatable window.
Transfer to production
The proven process and tooling package moves onto our production moulding shop, or to yours.
Equipment we develop on
- FDM & mSLA 3D print farm (to 300 × 300 × 400 mm)
- CAD/CAM design systems, DNC-linked to CNC
- Heidenhain CNC milling
- Spark erosion (EDM)
- Lathes and general toolroom machinery
- Precision CMM co-ordinate measuring
- Injection and compression moulding presses
- Ultrasonic welding and assembly rigs
Working on something new?
If you have a plastic part that doesn't fit a standard process, we'd like to hear about it.