2010/2/23 Olin Lathrop > > I don't think its a big/little company issue about the mold. It's just > math. Designing and making a mold is expensive. The advantage is you get > exactly what you want and the eventual incremental cost per unit is low. > Unless you forsee high volumes it doesn't make sense economically, whether > you are a big company or a small one. > > Not necesarily. You are looking for "as cheaper as possible" sense for economy here. There is another way to look at it: Regardless you being a small or large company, the look & feel of the product you produce may make a big difference on the market, regardless of its functional merits. This is more the rule on the consumer market, yes, but it has some non trivial impacts on many engineers, as Xiaofan is pointing out. Sometimes you may get higher revenue by expending more money on enclosure, shipping box, manual and all that stuff and increasing the price than the other way around. -- Ariel Rocholl Madrid, Spain -- http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist