Contract Machining

A CNC machine only earns a return on investment through continuous, productive operation. However, when product demand fluctuates, component geometries evolve, or specialised multi-axis operations are required only periodically, maintaining in-house machinery burdens manufacturers with fixed overhead costs that production cannot consistently recover.

A prominent industrial machinery OEM (a Novelty Structures client) was facing a critical capacity bottleneck. They were manufacturing a precision component requiring a long machining cycle time on their internal equipment. Because of the component’s lengthy cycle, it yielded a low margin on their own machines while simultaneously blocking capacity needed for higher-margin strategic orders. The client faced a costly dilemma: either commit substantial capital to purchase additional CNC machinery for a temporary surge, or sacrifice business growth.

Precision component machining

Novelty Structures partnered with the client to transition the long-cycle part into a fully managed contract machining workflow. Novelty Structures took over full manufacturing responsibility for the component within the client’s strict target budget, establishing scheduled monthly releases.

By outsourcing this component to Novelty Structures, the client successfully released internal machine capacity to focus on urgent, higher-margin strategic orders, retaining their customer base while significantly improving overall plant profitability.

The economic benefits extended far beyond the unit purchase price. To demonstrate the complete value model, the table below illustrates how our contract machining capacity addressed the client’s operational challenges:

A comprehensive comparison evaluates the total cost of acquiring acceptable finished parts rather than focusing solely on the raw purchase price. Novelty Structures works with client purchasing teams to factor in all total acquisition variables:

Machined components ready for release

A high-precision engineering client partnered with Novelty Structures for a production run of tight-tolerance critical components. In high-precision manufacturing, a conforming first component (first-article inspection) does not guarantee that the remaining batch will stay within engineering specification.

During continuous production runs, cutting tools naturally wear, shop temperatures fluctuate, and components experience residual stress relief distortion during heavy material removal. These progressive physical variations can gradually drift a critical feature toward its tolerance limit, even when the underlying CNC G-code program remains completely unchanged.

Relying exclusively on final inspection only identifies defects after significant machining hours and high-value materials have already been consumed. The client required a proactive control framework to detect and correct variations in real time while production was ongoing.

On-machine probing

To ensure total batch conformity, we have implemented an integrated, in-process control system based on closed-loop feedback. Novelty Structures manages tool wear, thermal effects, tool deflection, and component distortion using automated on-machine probing and tool-measurement systems.

An effective control plan connects every single measurement check directly to a clear operational decision. Novelty Structures established the following control framework across the client’s production run:

Where suitable, we integrate automated on-machine probing and tool-measurement sensors into the machining centre. These devices dynamically measure critical part features mid-cycle and automatically feed parameter offsets back into the CNC controller to correct for tool wear or thermal growth before non-conformances occur.

Continuous quality control means maintaining explicit control throughout the production run; it does not require measuring every feature on every single component. Inspection frequency is tailored based on:

Selecting the lowest-priced raw material stock does not always yield the lowest-cost finished part. A minor upfront saving on bar stock or plate can be completely wiped out by longer cutting cycle times, accelerated tool wear, frequent cutter replacement, or mandatory secondary finishing processes.

One of our client in the process machinery sector required components machined from standard 316L stainless steel bar stock to withstand harsh corrosion and high mechanical loading. While standard 316L met all service requirements, its inherent work-hardening characteristics made it notoriously difficult to machine. The client faced high part costs driven by slow feed rates, short tool life, and frequent chip-breaking issues.

Stainless steel bar and machined part

We performed a thorough evaluation starting with the part’s essential service performance requirements: mechanical loading, wear resistance, corrosion exposure, operating temperature, and post-machining joining requirements. Once performance bounds were defined, we studied d candidate alloys for manufacturing implications.

Material families present drastically different machining responses. Stainless steels generally exhibit greater machining challenges than standard carbon steels, and machinability varies significantly even among stainless steel grades. Tooling geometry and cutting parameters must be precisely matched to the alloy.

We identified a major optimisation opportunity within the client’s material specification. By transitioning from standard 316L stainless steel bar to a specialised, machinability-enhanced 316L variant (such as Prodec-grade 316L equivalent), Novelty Structures achieved a 54% reduction in total component machining time.

This material substitution maintained 100% compliance with standard 316L engineering specifications, retaining all required corrosion resistance, mechanical strength, and formal documentation approvals, while drastically reducing cycle time, tooling consumption, and per-part manufacturing costs.

Machined component portfolio