Microfluidic Prototyping: From CAD to Manufacturability Review
Projects begin with customer-supplied designs. Yeda coordinates manufacturability review and project delivery.
This page describes what happens between sending a file and receiving parts.
The Six-Step Process
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Submit CAD
You upload STEP, STP, DXF, PDF or ZIP files through the RFQ form, together with quantity, material preference and any critical requirements. A project reference is issued when your files are received, and subsequent correspondence references it.
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Manufacturability Review
Yeda coordinates a preliminary manufacturability review before quotation. This looks at the geometry against practical manufacturing constraints, identifies features likely to need discussion, and establishes which characteristics you consider critical. Where something in the design is likely to present a difficulty, you hear about it at this stage — before a quotation, rather than after a batch.
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Quote & Lead Time
The quotation states the agreed scope: material, quantity, bonding requirements, inspection scope and what documentation is included. Lead time is quoted per project. Where a requirement cannot be confirmed, the quotation says so rather than assuming it.
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International Delivery
Shipment is arranged after the review is complete. Documentation accompanies the shipment as agreed in the quotation.
Inspection and documentation scope is defined per project and confirmed in your quotation.
What We Need From You
File formats
| Format | Use |
|---|---|
| STEP / STP | 3D geometry — preferred |
| DXF | 2D layouts and layer geometry |
| Drawings, annotations, tolerances | |
| ZIP | Multiple files together |
Critical characteristics
A drawing that marks everything as critical communicates a similar amount of actionable information as one that marks nothing. A productive drawing identifies a small number of characteristics that determine whether the part works, and states the acceptable range for each.
How to mark critical dimensions in your drawing
What to specify, and what to leave open
Worth specifying:
- channel dimensions that affect your result
- port type and fitting standard
- optical requirements on specific surfaces
- material constraints driven by your chemistry
- anything that must fit an existing assembly
Reasonable to leave open:
- cosmetic finish on non-functional surfaces
- edge treatment
- tolerances on features that do not affect function
- exact stock thickness where your design does not depend on it
Leaving non-critical items open is a deliberate choice rather than an omission. It gives the review room to propose a practical route, which can reduce cost and lead time.
Project Quantities
A development project may progress from initial prototypes for concept and geometry validation, through larger validation batches, toward low-volume scale-up once the design is settled. Where a project sits on that path — and what quantity is workable at each stage — is established during review rather than published as a standing range.
Quantities and lead times are confirmed per project. Feasibility depends on geometry, material, bonding requirements and inspection scope.
What Manufacturability Review Checks
The preliminary review looks at:
- Whether channel geometry and aspect ratios are practical to produce
- Whether internal corner radii are compatible with your intent
- Whether the bonding requirement is realistic for the geometry
- Whether ports and interfaces are fully specified
- Whether stated tolerances are appropriate to the features they apply to
- Whether the drawing and 3D model agree with each other
- Whether critical characteristics are identified and measurable
The last point carries more weight than it may appear to. A tolerance on a feature that cannot practically be measured functions as an expectation rather than a specification. Identifying those early avoids disagreement later.
Scope of Service
We do not provide CFD simulation, original fluidic functional design, biological assay design, reagent chemistry development, clinical diagnosis claims, or complete IVD product design.
If your fluidic function is not yet defined, we are glad to discuss manufacturability — but the functional design needs to come from you or your collaborators.