Mechanical & Enclosure Design
Enclosures built around your board, not the other way round.
We design custom PCB enclosures from early concept through to manufacturable parts. The mechanical work is developed around the real board, connectors and operating environment.
The Challenge
Why a custom enclosure beats an off-the-shelf box
Off-the-shelf enclosures usually force compromises around the PCB, connectors, ventilation or mounting. A custom enclosure fixes those issues when the mechanical and electronic design are developed with visibility into each other, so a mounting boss does not land on a component and a connector does not end up behind a wall. The consequences get bigger when the product has tight volume, heat to manage, sealing requirements or has to be worn against the body. A late mechanical change can force the PCB to move as well, turning what looked like a simple enclosure tweak into another electronics revision.
What's Included
A complete mechanical design service
We take the enclosure from early concept through CAD, physical prototypes and tolerance checks until it is ready for manufacture.
1. Concept & Industrial Design
We start with quick sketches and simple mock-ups to settle the form, basic proportions and ergonomics before investing time in detailed CAD. Direction changes are cheap at this point, which is exactly when they should happen.
2. CAD Modelling
Fasteners, seals and assembly features are modelled to a level that works for both 3D-printed prototypes and later tooled production. If injection moulding is the likely route, draft angles and sensible wall thicknesses are considered early so the design does not need to be rebuilt just before tooling.
3. Custom PCB Enclosure Design
The enclosure is built around the actual PCB layout. Bosses are checked against board keep-out zones, and internal wall clearance is verified against the tallest component on the assembled board so the CAD reflects the thing that will actually be built.
4. Material Selection
Material choice follows the job the enclosure has to do. That can mean UV stabilisation for outdoor products, suitable temperature performance across the operating range, or higher impact strength where the product is likely to be dropped.
5. Prototyping
We use in-house 3D printing to get the enclosure into our hands early and check the general fit and functionality. Two or three printed rounds are typical before the manufacturing drawings are finalised, especially when the enclosure is compact or has several interfaces to line up.
6. Tolerance & Fit Validation
Fit is checked at worst-case tolerance, with the relevant dimensions pushed to the edges of their allowed ranges at the same time. That is what tells us whether an assembly will go together consistently at volume, instead of relying on one perfect prototype whose parts all happened to land near nominal.
Our Approach
How we approach mechanical and enclosure design
Mechanical and electronic design happen together. On compact and wearable products, the enclosure can even change electrical performance, with antenna placement being the obvious example, so we resolve those interactions while both designs are still easy to change. In-house printing lets us check fit, access and handling quickly before any tooling commitment. We also do the less visible tolerance work behind the CAD, including worst-case stack-up, because a custom enclosure only works as a production design if parts still assemble when real manufacturing variation shows up.
Real Example
Enclosure design in practice
The wearable fencing system used compact nodes where the enclosure shape and antenna position affected wireless performance. We developed the housing alongside the electronics so the RF behaviour and physical form could be resolved together.
Read the case studyIs This For You
Mechanical and enclosure design is right for you if
You need a custom enclosure designed around the actual PCB and connectors.
Space, thermal performance or sealing leaves little room for mechanical guesswork.
The product is worn or held, so comfort and ergonomics affect whether people will use it.
Antenna placement or another electrical constraint depends on the enclosure geometry.
You need manufacture-ready CAD and tolerance work, not a concept model that stops at appearance.
Book a Discovery Call
Talk to us about your enclosure
Book a 30-minute call to talk through the product, its physical constraints and what the enclosure needs to achieve.