Your prototype works. The part fits, the assembly holds. Except you no longer need one, you need forty. And that is where the ground gives way: plastic manufacturers talk to you about tooling and thousands of units, while buying a printer for forty parts makes no sense at all. Between the two lies a route many people discover late, small batch production through on-demand 3D printing.
Why a mold doesn't answer this question
Conventional plastic manufacturing goes through injection molding: a metal mold is machined, molten plastic is injected into it, and the part comes out in seconds. Unbeatable on very large volumes, because the cost of the mold is spread across every part produced.
The catch is that the mold has to exist before the first part does. It represents an upfront investment and a lead time that only make sense at volumes far above yours. Worse, the smallest change to the geometry, a hole moved, a wall thickness revised, means redoing the tooling. For ten, fifty or a hundred parts, and above all for a batch that may still evolve, the maths never works out.
What 3D printing changes on a batch
With 3D printing there is no tooling. Each part is built layer by layer straight from your file, in FDM, meaning fused filament deposition, where melted plastic is laid down thread by thread. Three practical consequences:
- No entry cost. You don't pay for a mold before you pay for parts, and there is no minimum order: we produce from a single unit.
- The file stays alive. Changing the part between two batches costs a new file, not new tooling. That matters when the product hasn't settled into its final shape.
- Every unit can differ. Numbering, size, a variant of the mounting point: anything modeled into the file can change from one part to the next. A mold only knows how to make one part.
The trade-off is that cost per part doesn't collapse with volume the way it does with injection molding, because every unit genuinely consumes material and machine time. That is exactly what makes the process unbeatable at ten parts and unsuitable at ten thousand.
How the price of a batch is built
A quote rests on two main items. Material, charged by the kilo depending on the plastic chosen: PLA starts at 22 €/kg, PETG at 26 €/kg, TPU at 35 €/kg and Nylon at 65 €/kg. Machine time, at 7 €/h, covers the hours your parts actually occupy on a printer.
As a rough guide, a small part starts around 15 €, a medium part sits between 40 and 50 €, and a large or technical part goes beyond 120 €. On a batch these figures don't simply multiply: discounts apply on identical copies. Which is why it is always worth asking for a quote on the full batch rather than part by part.
Finishing is optional: sanding and primer, an undercoat that evens out the surface before painting, hand painting, matte, satin or gloss varnish, and simple assembly if your model provides for magnets, screws or inserts. On a single part, careful finishing changes everything. On a hundred parts it is a step repeated a hundred times, so it pays to decide upfront what you actually need.
Choosing the right plastic when you're making many
The material commits the whole batch, so it deserves some thought before you start.
PLA suits decorative pieces, figurines and anything that lives indoors. PETG is the usual pick as soon as a part has to take mechanical stress or repeated handling. TPU is flexible, for anything that has to deform: seals, protective covers, grips. Nylon covers the most demanding technical needs.
If you're torn between the first two, our article on choosing your material goes into detail, and the technical filaments TPU and Nylon have their own guide. When in doubt, send the file along with a note on how the part will really be used: the recommended material is part of the quote.
From file to boxes
You send us your model as STL, OBJ or 3MF, either as a file or as a link, together with the quantity you need. The free quote reaches you within 24 hours. Once you accept it and pay, production starts within 12 hours on working days (Monday to Friday, 9am to 7pm).
The production time stated for our parts is 3 to 5 working days depending on complexity and workshop load. On a batch, it is the quote that sets the realistic schedule, so tell us in your first message if you have a date to hit, a trade show, a launch or a customer delivery.
Shipping goes out with tracked delivery in mainland France from 6.90 €. If you're nearby, collection at the Vatimont workshop, in the Moselle, is free and the coffee is on us.
A word on your files: they are never shared or reused without your agreement. On your side, you remain responsible for the rights on whatever you send us, whether it is your own modeling or a model bought elsewhere.
Who this is really for
The creator who wants to test a range before committing to volume. The association that needs forty branded objects for an event. The craftsperson fitting a custom part into their own product. The company looking for thirty mounting brackets nobody manufactures. The common thread: a volume too small for industry, and no desire to invest in machines.
And this needs saying too: for several thousand identical, settled parts, 3D printing is no longer the right process, and an honest workshop will point you towards injection molding. Small batch is the zone where a mold costs too much and a personal machine makes no sense.
Frequently asked questions
How many parts count as a batch?
There is no imposed threshold: we produce from a single unit. Discounts apply as soon as you order the same part several times, and they show more clearly as the quantity grows.
Can I change my part between two orders?
Yes, and that is one of the real advantages of the process. Since there is no tooling, a new version of your file simply leads to a new quote, with no mold rework to pay for.
Will all the parts in a batch be identical?
They come from the same file, in the same material and with the same settings, so yes. If on the contrary you want units to vary, say so when you ask for the quote: that is prepared on the file side.
Let's talk about your batch
Send us your file and the quantity you have in mind through our on-demand 3D printing service or from the workshop form, and within 24 hours you'll get a free quote with a recommended material and a realistic lead time for the batch. No 3D file yet? Our article on ordering a print without a file explains where to start. And if what you need is a broken part remade rather than a batch produced, look at plastic part repair instead.