Team Fictiv

Plastic injection molding can produce anywhere from a few hundred to a few million parts. To ensure that parts are produced consistently, with minimal defects, and at the lowest possible cost, designers should follow some established guidelines. Wall thickness is a key consideration critical to the success of your injection molding project.  Download Fictiv’s Injection […]

Geometric Dimensioning and Tolerancing (GD&T or GD and T) is a language of symbols and standards designed and used by engineers and manufacturers to describe the shape (geometry) and size (dimensions) of a product and facilitate communication between entities working together to manufacture products. The US military created a proto-GD&T in the 1940s with the […]

Our customers have been asking for additional finishing capabilities on platform, and today we’re releasing three new finishing options on fictiv.com: vapor smoothing for Multi Jet Fusion parts, and vapor polishing and hand polishing for CNC machined parts. These capabilities improve the surface finish of parts and are available today with instant quoting.  Vapor Smoothing […]

The Challenge: Meeting Design Expectations of Consumers From dimmers and light switch plates to chargers and more, aesthetics plays a big role in purchase decisions in the electrical products market. In the age of smart homes, more homeowners are opting for technology — like home security system command panels, smart thermostats, doorbell cameras and window […]

How Sourcing Injection Molding Through Fictiv Can Give Electrical Companies a Competitive Advantage You might not know it, but many electric parts that you find around the house or in stores today are manufactured with plastic parts using an injection molding process. Some of these products include wire caps, motor housings, power strips, plugs and […]

The Challenge: Growing Energy and Operational Demands As industry advances and populations grow, the demand for energy increases. This places a tremendous amount of pressure on energy companies to scale up their operations, which increases the need for equipment parts. However, extreme environmental conditions, stringent industry standards and keeping operational costs low while meeting economic […]

How Fictiv’s Injection Molding Services Can Help Power the Energy Sector From fossil fuels like coal, oil and gas to renewable sources like solar, wind and hydro, many facets of our daily lives are powered by consumable energy. And as industry advances and populations grow, the demand for energy increases. This places a tremendous amount […]

The Challenge: Engineering Under Tight Tolerances and Timelines In the aerospace industry, standards are high. Even non-flight-critical parts need to meet rigorous quality control criteria. This means panels, housings, interior and exterior trim, ducting, trays and other components need to be manufactured exactly to spec using engineering-grade materials that can deliver flight-ready performance — all within […]

How Fictiv’s Injection Molding Services Can Help Aerospace Prepare for Takeoff In the aerospace industry, standards are high. If one part fails, it could have dire consequences. Even non-flight-critical parts need to meet rigorous quality control criteria. This means panels, housings, interior and exterior trim, ducting, trays and other components need to be manufactured exactly to […]

Why Automotive Companies Partner with Fictiv for Injection Molding Plastic materials were first used in the production of automotive parts as early as the 1940s and 1950s. Since then, plastic has only become more integral in automotive manufacturing and has slowly replaced metal as the material of choice. Everything from exterior parts like tail lights, […]

The Challenge: Shortening Innovation Lead Times The automotive industry is highly innovative and competitive, which puts pressure on automakers to be both leading-edge and first to market. However, vehicle parts often go through dozens of iterations before the final part is deemed ready for mass production — requiring a speedy, efficient and cost-effective prototyping solution.  […]

Why Consumer Goods Companies Choose Fictiv for Injection Molding From sporting goods and electronics to product packaging and in-store displays, plastic is used in a wide array of consumer goods applications. But regardless of the shape, size or complexity of the consumer good that’s being manufactured, the challenge is still the same — getting a […]

The Challenge: First-to-Market Wins From sporting goods and electronics to product packaging and in-store displays, plastic is used in a wide array of consumer goods applications. But regardless of the shape, size or complexity of the consumer good that’s being manufactured, the challenge is still the same: getting high-quality goods on shelves fast to meet […]

The Challenge: Meeting To-Market Deadlines In the world of construction and building product manufacturing, go-to-market launch dates are set — and need to be met. However, designing complex and custom parts isn’t an inherently speedy process, and making a part that meets exact specifications and performance requirements may take dozens of iterations. This creates a […]

Why Construction Product Companies Partner with Fictiv for Injection Molding Services Whether it’s lighting fixtures, electrical connectors and components, or plumbing pipes and accessories, plastic parts used in the construction of residential or commercial spaces run the gamut in terms of diversity and design complexity. But the one thing all these parts have in common […]

The Challenge: Speed to Market In the rapidly advancing and highly competitive medical industry, there is considerable value in being not only fast to market but also first to market with a new medical device or component. Medical companies spend substantial resources to increase the chances of beating their competitors to market and avoid the […]

Medical products of even the most complex and sophisticated shapes and geometries are made through injection molding — and can play a vital role in improving and saving the lives of people around the world. Time is of the essence in getting products to market. That’s why many medical companies turn to Fictiv as their […]

Gears, housings, fixtures and parts of all shapes and sizes. The industrial market is exceptionally diverse. The products and components vary significantly in complexity but many of them rely on the same manufacturing process — injection molding. Every day counts when creating new products. Industrial companies need custom injection molded plastic parts manufactured as fast […]

Fictiv’s Monthly Supply Chain Update series gives you insight into the logistics challenges, transit times, and related manufacturing issues we’re currently facing. In our December update, we discussed the impact of Chinese New Year (CNY) on overseas production. The holiday itself runs from January 31st-February 6th, so production facilities, airports, and customs are closed during […]

SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 18, 2022 — Throughout 2021, the world continued its accelerated shift to digital, on-demand manufacturing as part of an industry-wide transformation and in response to near term pressures like the pandemic and supply chain disruption. In its Year in Review, Digital Manufacturing Ecosystem (DME) Fictiv highlighted its primary role in this growth and […]

Two words. Two words that excite, thrill, and perhaps even titillate.  ROBOTS. ACTIVATE! The best bot combat competition on the planet, BattleBots, is back, y’all, and this year, we helped! That’s right party people, Fictiv helped Team RoboGym Robotics take their BattleBot Deadlift to the next level for BattleBots, Season 6, which starts on January […]

Fictiv’s Monthly Supply Chain Update series gives you insight into the logistics challenges, transit times, and related manufacturing issues we’re currently facing. Happy holidays everyone! Christmas is right around the corner, and we want to update everyone on how we’re managing our supply chain to keep production moving and fulfilling orders as quickly as possible. […]

Fictiv’s Monthly Supply Chain Update series gives you insight into the logistics challenges, transit times, and related manufacturing issues we’re currently facing. In the early stages of the pandemic, demand for goods was depressed, and delays and shortages plagued production across industries around the world. While consumer demand and industrial activity have picked back up […]

Geometric Dimensioning and Tolerancing (GD&T) is a language of symbols and standards used by engineers and manufacturers to describe a product and facilitate communication between entities working together to produce something. By deepening your knowledge around how to create a well structured GD&T, you will improve communication with your machine shop and ensure everyone involved is […]

Every year, 55 million tons of plastic are processed to manufacture almost any kind of part. Injection molding is the leading process to manufacture these plastic parts. The process is a quick, economical way to mass produce a number of parts, ranging from high-precision engineering components to cosmetic product enclosures. The Injection Molding Process Having […]

From workshops to large industrial plants, computer numerical control — or CNC — machines have become integral parts of the production and manufacturing industries. The history of CNC machining dates back to when it was simply referred to as numerical control. This was an older system that didn’t involve programmable computers. The history of CNC […]

When you upload a part to the Fictiv platform, you receive instant design for manufacturability (DFM) feedback. Here are some explanations for why you received that feedback and what you can do to get your part ready to machine! Fillets to be added Explanation Fillets will be added to sharp internal corners or areas where […]

Computer aided manufacturing (CAM) has allowed huge developments in the automation of manufacturing. By automating the generation of toolpaths for machining, CAM allows people to manufacture complex designs and geometries that would be difficult or even impossible to machine by hand. Gone (mostly) are the days of writing hundreds of lines of G-code by hand! […]

Introduction CNC machines are the gold standard in precision manufacturing because of their speed, precision, and ability to hold tight tolerances. The development of CNC machining has facilitated incredible innovations because it allows the design and manufacture of parts with incredibly complex geometry. It’s no wonder that this process is essential to make many products […]

CNC machining is one of the most widely used prototyping and manufacturing methods today, especially for metal parts. Most of the details, such as tooling, spindle speed, cutter type, and depth of cut, are taken care of at the machine shop, but there are some things you can do while designing your product to not […]

“Medical device” is a broad umbrella term that covers a huge variety of apparatus and equipment, such as Band-Aids, dental floss, blood pressure cuffs, defibrillators, MRI scanners, and much, much more. It’s probably no surprise that medical device design constitutes a major segment of the field of mechanical engineering, especially in the U.S., which is […]

To most people, plastics might seem all the same, but to an engineer, plastics come in families, have cousin materials, and have other materials that are as different as cats are from dogs. Of course, our clients expect us to worry about these details, and as nerds, the minute differences between materials are a source […]

We love the invention and design development process. We love seeing the concepts come together, love working through iterations of prototypes and finally (finally!) getting a design just right, fulfilling all the technical and aesthetic requirements. But do you know what’s even better? Seeing your designs in full-scale manufacture. Unfortunately, once your design is beautiful […]

Sharp edges are beautiful: light glinting off these clean lines as a product rotates through space, music swelling dramatically in the background of a commercial. Edges are precise. Edges are distinct. Edges are horrible for injection molding. A general rule of injection molding is: Radius all edges. What do you do if your design calls […]

The advent of CAD systems, additive manufacturing, and CNC machining has made the design and manufacture of complex part designs almost routine. Engineers today are being asked to design parts that will probably be exposed to many different factors, including extreme weather, chemicals, bodily fluids, high stress/high load, impact, and other elements and situations that […]

In the world of plastics, there are a lot of different options for a designer to choose from. There are so many plastic materials, in fact, that the process of selecting the proper 3D printing plastics for prototyping and subsequent manufacturing plastics for production may seem intimidating. This article seeks to clarify the main types of plastic materials […]

Engineering drawings are a great way to communicate design intent for CNC machined parts that require tight tolerances or other special requirements. Many of our customers in robotics, aerospace, automotive, and medical device industries attach drawings to their parts when uploading to the Fictiv platform. That said, not all engineers receive comprehensive training on how […]