Before you approve tooling,
run this 2-minute check.

A practical checklist to catch injection molding risks
‍before tooling makes them expensive.

Takes 30 seconds to fill. No Spam.

Built from real factory review experience , not theory.

Most consumer products don’t fail because of bad ideas.
They fail because of things that weren’t caught early enough.

Here are issues I see all the time before tooling:

Factory CAD looks “reasonable” but breaks design intent
Snap-fits are over-constrained or too tight for assembly
No clear sealing strategy → failed IP testing
Tolerances don’t stack correctly across parts
Parts technically moldable… but not robust in production

Each of these can mean:

Tooling rework
Delays
Cost overruns
Compromised product quality

And once tooling starts, fixing them gets expensive.
That’s when small oversights become five-figure problems.

Who this checklist is for

You’re about to approve factory CAD and want a quick sanity check
Early-stage hardware startups
You’re preparing for injection molding (or re-tooling) and want fewer surprises
Your product has snap-fits / enclosures / seals / assembly constraints
You want a fast way to catch common issues before they become rework

Who this checklist is NOT for

Founders still exploring ideas without a prototype
Students learning CAD basics
Teams looking only for drafting help

Pre-Tooling Design Checklist

A short, practical checklist you can use before approving factory CAD or starting tooling.

Inside this checklist, you’ll find:

What to verify in factory CAD (beyond “does it look right”)
Common snap-fit and enclosure mistakes
Sealing and waterproofing red flags
Tolerance questions that prevent assembly issues
Early warning signs of future tooling changes

No theory. No fluff. Just things that break products in real life.

This resource is for teams preparing for real production decisions.

Ready to move forward with clarity?

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Background

I’m a consumer product design engineer focused on manufacturable, factory-ready products.
I review factory CAD, improve designs for injection molding and assembly, and help teams align design intent with manufacturing reality.
This checklist is based on what I look for when reviewing real products for tooling.

Background / Context

Final reassurance

No obligation
No sales pressure
You’ll get direct engineering feedback, not sales.
I don’t take every project

Before you approve tooling,run this 2-minute check.

Most consumer products don’t fail because of bad ideas.They fail because of things that weren’t caught early enough.