Custom automation tooling & production changeover parts
Product-specific tooling that connects your equipment to the parts it handles. Miami Makes designs and fabricates gripper interfaces, conveyor guides, product nests, and interchangeable format parts for new products and changing production requirements.
Your project, in practical terms
From requirement to finished part.
Example requests show how design, fabrication, and delivery can fit together around your needs.
Can you make changeover parts so our existing production station handles a new product size?
Miami Makes can design product nests, guide rails, locating pockets, and interchangeable format modules around the new product and existing machine interfaces. Acetal, UHMW, aluminum, or printed trial parts can be selected according to wear, stiffness, and contact requirements. Keyed orientation, common datums, and reusable fastening points can simplify setup. We can supply a trial format for evaluation on your equipment, revise it from the results, and produce the approved set for nationwide delivery.
Where we start. Send samples of the existing and new products, machine interface drawings or measurements, cycle sequence, speed, and required clearances. We help develop the geometry; trials with the equipment owner establish behavior at operating speed and compatibility with sensors, tooling, and safeguarding.
Explore materials, dimensions, and details for each application. Dimensions below describe example configurations, not fixed limits or guaranteed specifications. We develop the final construction around your requirements.
01
Robot gripper fingers
Grip a specific product shape without obstructing the next operation.
Materials & fabrication
Machined aluminum or acetal fingers, printed nylon or reinforced-polymer bodies, and replaceable elastomer contact pads can combine structure with a tailored gripping surface.
Dimensions & construction
Define jaw stroke, mounting pattern, approach clearance, contact area, and tool-center offset. Finger length and wall section follow payload, acceleration, and available grip force.
What determines the choice
Evaluate friction, part deformation, surface marks, cycle life, and loss-of-grip consequences. Check the complete motion path and grip with actual parts before production use.
02
Soft jaws & shaped gripping inserts
Adapt standard jaws to irregular, delicate, or finished workpieces.
Materials & fabrication
CNC-machined acetal, aluminum, or suitable engineering plastic; printed inserts for trial geometry; compatible soft pads for cosmetic surfaces.
Dimensions & construction
Match bolt spacing, serrations or keys, pocket depth, and clamping direction. Include replaceable contact inserts and clearance for tools, flash, or dimensional variation.
What determines the choice
Specify clamp force and permissible movement. A soft contact material can reduce marks but may compress or creep; confirm that the workpiece remains securely located.
03
Suction-cup mounting plates
Arrange purchased suction cups around the available pickup surfaces.
Materials & fabrication
CNC-cut aluminum or polymer plates with threaded hardware, printed shaped supports, and purchased vacuum fittings. Material choice follows stiffness, payload, and mounting constraints.
Dimensions & construction
Candidate plates of 1/8–1/2 in can carry adjustable cup slots, fitting clearances, hose routing, and robot or actuator interfaces. Cup spacing follows the supported surface. Directly tapped holes in compatible plate materials can secure mounting hardware without rear nuts when sufficient thread engagement is available; specify vacuum-fitting threads separately from the mounting screws.
What determines the choice
Check cup ratings, leakage, porous surfaces, center of gravity, acceleration, and hose movement. The plate layout must be evaluated with the selected vacuum system.
04
Automated product nests
Present parts consistently to a robot, press, inspection station, or assembly machine.
Materials & fabrication
Machined acetal or aluminum nests with replaceable contact pads; printed prototypes can resolve seating and access before a repeat-use construction is selected.
Dimensions & construction
Define datum pads, orientation keys, loading clearance, sensor openings, and machine mounting. Pocket pitch follows the handling sequence and tool access, not merely packing density.
What determines the choice
Review tolerance variation, debris, incorrect loading, extraction force, and sensor visibility. The nest should locate the part without trapping it or distorting critical features.
05
Conveyor guides & product turners
Guide, orient, or redirect products between operations.
Materials & fabrication
Machined UHMW, acetal, or selected wear polymers, supported by aluminum brackets. Printed geometry can trial a transition before wear parts are produced.
Dimensions & construction
Define lane width, guide height, lead-in radius, transfer gap, and adjustment range from actual products. Segment longer guides for replacement and mounting access.
What determines the choice
Check conveyor speed, friction, jams, product damage, sanitation needs, and moving clearances. A geometry that works slowly may behave differently at production speed.
06
Bottle & container locating parts
Position different container shapes for filling, labeling, coding, or handling.
Materials & fabrication
Machined HDPE, acetal, or UHMW pockets and rails, printed format trials, and aluminum backplates. Contact surfaces can be replaceable.
Dimensions & construction
Develop neck or body references, pocket profiles, anti-rotation features, and clearance for seams or labels. Format parts follow actual container samples across manufacturing variation.
What determines the choice
Evaluate scuffing, tipping, thin-wall distortion, fill-state weight, and removal. Contact zones should remain compatible with the process and any hygiene requirements.
07
Interchangeable format inserts
Change a station between product sizes without replacing its entire fixture.
Materials & fabrication
CNC-machined aluminum bases with polymer nests, printed inserts, alignment pins, captive fasteners, and purchased quick-release hardware.
Dimensions & construction
Use keyed orientation, common mounting references, hard stops, and visible format identification. Define which dimensions remain fixed and which change with the product. M4–M8 heat-set inserts in suitable thermoplastic modules can provide reusable fastening points for repeated changeovers; locating pins or keys establish position independently of screw clearance.
What determines the choice
Review changeover time, tool access, setup errors, repeatability, and wear. Verify that the wrong insert cannot silently create an unsafe or out-of-spec setup.
Design is part of the engagement
Help defining it. Help making it.
We start with the product, machine interface, and motion sequence. CAD development and physical trials can establish the contact geometry, access, and adjustment before the tooling is checked in the actual operation.
Design and documentation can stand alone, continue through our fabrication work, or support production by a specialist facility.
Purpose-built tools that locate, hold, guide, or align parts for repeatable work. We help translate a recurring manual operation into a fixture that fits the part and the person using it.
Fixtures that make a check easier to position, repeat, and interpret. We can help develop the physical interfaces for your inspection or test method and build the supporting hardware.
Reproduce an unavailable component, improve a recurring failure, or adapt serviceable equipment to a new requirement. Miami Makes helps define the functional geometry and produce a replacement with a reusable design record.
