RemieDog founder Paul Vizzio was quoted $15,000 for a die-cast tool by his general suppliers. By finding a factory that specialized in small, niche die-cast components, he reduced the tooling cost to just $700, making the project financially viable.

A key efficiency of Swiss machining is its use of main and sub-spindles that work independently. While the main spindle is cutting the front of a part, the sub-spindle can perform operations on the back of the previous part. This overlapping work is considered "free time," dramatically reducing overall cycle time.

Founder Paul Vizzio initially optimized a CNC-machined part from $45 to $25. To hit a consumer price point, he redesigned it for die casting and found a specialized supplier, dropping the cost to ~$2.50. This enabled a viable business model.

While known for small, round parts, Swiss machining can be adapted for unconventional jobs. By creating non-standard rectangular guide bushings and collets, it's possible to process long, non-round stock—such as machining features along a 12-foot I-beam—in a single, continuous operation.

Figure's first robots were optimized for development speed using expensive CNC manufacturing. For its third generation, the company focused on design-for-manufacturing, successfully reducing the cost by nearly an order of magnitude while simultaneously improving the robot's capabilities and slimming its design.

Designers should consider the human operators and machines that will assemble their product. By making choices that simplify manufacturing—providing clear instructions and avoiding known difficulties—the process becomes smoother and more efficient, akin to 'riding a bike downhill.'

Simple design is fast and cheap, and it starts with minimal requirements. By aggressively questioning every single requirement, even those that seem obvious, engineering teams can often delete constraints or find opportunities to reuse existing solutions, radically simplifying the design and accelerating the production timeline.

The default instinct is to solve problems by adding features and complexity. A more effective design process is to envision an ideal, complex solution and then systematically subtract elements, simplify components, and replace custom parts. This leads to more elegant, robust, and manufacturable products.

Zipline's 50% cost reduction for its next-gen aircraft wasn't just from supply chain optimization. The primary driver was a design philosophy focused on eliminating components entirely ("the best part is no part"), which also improves reliability.