Phytotronics approached our team with a challenge: transitioning their existing metal thermostat enclosure to plastic to reduce unit costs. Their off-the-shelf metal enclosure was costing nearly $25 per unit.
Our engineering team developed a design optimized for injection molding, enabling new features that weren’t possible with metal while significantly lowering production costs. We selected a UV-stabilized material to ensure durability in the greenhouse environment where the product would be used.
Although the transition required a $12,000 mold investment, the unit cost dropped from $25 to $5. With an annual production volume of 2,000 units, the $20 per-unit savings resulted in a $40,000 annual cost reduction. This provided an immediate ROI on the mold, after which the savings became pure profit.
