Real Parts While Your Tooling Is Being Cut
Your injection mold is weeks away, but your customers are ready today. We manufacture functional end use parts on industrial selective laser sintering (SLS) systems while your permanent tooling is being cut, your demand is being proven, or your design is still moving.
What Is Bridge Production?
Bridge production, also called bridge manufacturing or bridge to production, is low volume manufacturing that covers the stage between a validated prototype and full scale production. Instead of waiting for steel tooling, parts are 3D printed directly from the CAD file and shipped as real, sellable product.
Typical bridge runs start around 50 units and scale into the thousands, and because there is no tooling, there is no hard ceiling either. The same digital file that produces the first batch produces every batch after it, so quality stays consistent from run to run.
When Bridge Production Makes Sense
Sidestep Tooling Delays
Your injection mold is 8 to 20 weeks out and customers, certifications, or launch dates cannot wait. Printed parts keep the launch on schedule.
Validate Market Demand
Demand is unproven and steel tooling is a heavy bet. Market test or pre sell with printed parts and fund the mold with real sales data.
Iterate Without Penalty
The design is still moving, and every revision would mean cutting the mold again. With SLS, a revision is a file change, not a rework of steel.
Fill Supply Chain Gaps
A supplier drops out or a legacy product needs a small ongoing supply that no longer justifies a mold. We print exactly what you need, when you need it.
Bridge Production vs. Low Volume Injection Molding
Both approaches deliver production parts at modest volumes. The right choice depends on your timeline, your budget, and how settled the design is.
| Bridge Production with SLS | Low Volume Injection Molding | |
|---|---|---|
| Tooling required | None | Aluminum or steel mold |
| Time to first parts | Days | Weeks to months |
| Upfront investment | None | Mold cost, often tens of thousands of dollars |
| Design changes | A file update | Mold rework or a new tool |
| Minimum order | None | Typically required to justify the mold |
| Best total cost | Low to mid volume runs | High volume, long life programs |
Explore our low volume production services for the full picture, or see our molding solutions for when steel makes sense. Many customers launch on printed parts, then scale on steel with our hybrid manufacturing solutions.
How SLS Bridge Production Works at Anubis 3D
We run production grade selective laser sintering systems in Mississauga, Ontario, printing functional nylon parts directly from your CAD file. There is no tooling to cut, no fixtures to build, and no minimum order quantity, so the first parts can ship in days instead of weeks. See also 3D printing in Mississauga.
Components come off the machine strong and dimensionally stable, ready for end use, with post processing options that cover everything from dyeing to smoothing. Learn more about our selective laser sintering process.
A good bridge strategy plans the exit from day one.
Bridge Production Questions
What is bridge production in manufacturing?
Bridge production is low volume manufacturing that supplies real, end use parts between prototyping and full scale production, most often while injection mold tooling is being made or while market demand is still being validated.
How many parts can a bridge production run cover?
Bridge runs commonly start around 50 units and scale into the thousands, with no hard upper limit. Because SLS needs no tooling, a run can be repeated, extended, or scaled at any time without extra setup cost.
Is bridge production cheaper than injection molding?
At low volumes, yes. Printed parts cost more per unit but avoid the tooling investment, so total project cost usually favors bridge production until volumes climb into the thousands, where molding takes over.
What materials are used for bridge production parts?
We print in production grade nylon on industrial SLS systems, producing strong, dimensionally stable parts that are suitable for functional end use.
Bringing a New Product to Market?
Tell us about your part, your timeline, and your target volumes, our team will recommend a production plan that bridges you from first parts to full scale molding.