Fits: multi-process parts
A plastic body with an overmoulded silicone element, printed graphics and retail packaging is a natural fit. Coordinating four suppliers is expensive; one supplier accountable end-to-end is straightforward.
Design · tool · mould · finish · pack · ship
One supplier from design to dispatch.
Many contract moulders do the moulding and leave the rest to you. We take the programme from part design through to finished parts in the box — one supplier, one paper trail, one engineer on your account.
Why customers ask
The reason customers ask for a one-stop programme.
Coordinating multiple suppliers on one component is expensive in ways that don't show up in the quotes. The plastic supplier's schedule slips, the moulder waits, the finisher gets pushed, the packer runs out of hours, and the customer ends up on the phone chasing four different companies.
For customers whose part crosses several process steps — a plastic body with an overmoulded silicone element, printed graphics, and retail-ready packaging — a one-stop programme is often the right structure. One PO, one paper trail, one engineer accountable for the whole flow.
It's not always the right answer. If you already have a good relationship with a plastic supplier who delivers on time, moving them to us would break something that works. But if the coordination cost is what's actually hurting you, this is the answer to that pain.
How the flow works
Six stages from concept to shipped parts.
Not every programme needs every stage. Some customers arrive with a drawing and want tooling and moulding only; others need us end-to-end from concept.
Design and DFM
Rough concept, sample part, or bare requirement — we work up the manufacturable version. DFM feedback happens before the tool is cut, when changes still cost nothing.
Tooling design and cut
Once the design is locked, tooling is designed for the intended process and volume. Cavity count matched to annual quantity; steel grade matched to tool life.
Sample parts and sign-off
First-off parts produced, dimensionally inspected, colour-matched, feel-verified. Signed off against the specification before production releases.
Volume production
Rolling batches against your schedule. Batch record with every shipment. Material and process conditions locked and monitored.
Post-processing and finishing
Deflash, trim, inspection, print, marking — whatever the finished part needs. Handled at our facility, not left for you to sort.
Pack and dispatch
Packaged to your spec — bulk industrial, kitted for assembly, or retail-ready in your finished-product boxes. Shipped to your line, warehouse or fulfilment partner.
Where this fits, and where it doesn't
Honest guidance on when a one-stop programme is the right structure.
Fits: programmes where paperwork matters
Medical device, regulated industry or brand-critical products benefit from a single paper trail. Material batches, process records and finishing all documented against one shipment.
Doesn't fit: already-working supply chains
If you have a plastic supplier who delivers on time and a moulder you trust, moving them both to us would break something that works. We'd rather do the piece we do well and leave the rest alone.
Doesn't fit: extreme cost pressure on unit price
A one-stop programme carries some coordination overhead; unit prices reflect that. For pure lowest-cost commodity moulding, a bare moulding contract is the honest answer.
Designed and developed in the UK. UK moulding capability, with some higher-volume production placed with trusted partners where that's the right commercial answer.
At a glance
The idea in a picture.
From drawing to delivered parts
- 01Drawing or sampleYour part and where it is used
- 02Material and routeCompound and process agreed
- 03PrototypeReal parts to test
- 04Sign-offYou approve the samples
- 05Production toolBuilt for your volumes
- 06Batches and checksInspected and delivered
Swipe to see the whole diagram
Get in touch
Tell us the part, the volume, and the timeline.
Rough annual volume, target unit price, and any deadlines. That's enough to work out whether compression, LSR injection or something else is the right tool.
Real people, a real workshop
You deal with the people who make it.
No call centre and no middlemen. When you contact TCI Products, you speak to the team who design, build and check your mould.
- A real Warwickshire workshopUnit 15, Waterloo Park, Bidford-on-Avon, Alcester B50 4JG.
- Real people on the phoneCall the team on 01789 224228, Monday to Friday.
- The same team on every jobDesign, production and aftercare come from the people you see here.
- Part of TCI GroupFive specialist brands, one engineering team. Visit TCI Group.
Thomas LaneManaging Director
George PrestonDesign & Project Manager
Kelly BallingerHead of Partnerships
Jim AndertonProduction Manager
TheodoreEmployee Welfare