Austin Mechatronics Composites

Design in Austin.
Tool and build in Mexico.

Wet-layup composite parts — from the first 3D model through production. Materials selected for the part. One U.S. contact. A Mexico shop for masters, molds, and runs of 100–500.

Wet layup Materials to spec Body · Enclosures · UAV covers U.S. representation

4Step process

SpecMaterials to the part

100–500Typical production lot

1U.S. point of contact

How the work moves

3D → master → mold → parts

A short chain. Nothing extra. Each step has to be right before the next one starts.

Create 3D

CAD and design-for-manufacture in Austin for wet-layup composite parts.

Create master

A physical master pattern built in Mexico from the approved 3D model.

Create mold

A production mold pulled from the master for prototype and 100–500 lots.

Create parts

Wet-layup parts in the laminate specified for the job, then trim and ship.

Where it happens

Austin designs it.
Mexico tools and builds it.

Austin Mechatronics represents a Mexico contract manufacturer in the United States. You do not manage two vendors. You send the part once.

Austin

Program + 3D

Customer contact
CAD / DFM
Laminate schedule
First-article review

Mexico

Master · Mold · Parts

Master from approved 3D
Production mold
Wet layup to the approved laminate
Trim, inspect, ship

The floor

What goes through the shop

Volume

Prototypes first. Then production lots of about 100–500.

Prototype100500

Materials

Laminate and resin optimized for the project — glass, carbon, hybrid, or another reinforcement if the part needs it.

To spec Glass · Carbon · Hybrid

Part types

Automotive body parts. Equipment enclosures. Panels. UAV covers, fairings, and housings — the parts that need a mold, not a flight certificate.

Composite tooling process

From signed 3D to production composite parts

Austin Mechatronics Composites runs a four-step path for wet-layup composite manufacturing in Mexico: create the 3D, create the master, create the mold, create the parts. The same sequence is used for automotive body panels, equipment enclosures, covers, and UAV fairings and housings. Engineering stays in Austin. Masters, molds, and parts are built by the Mexico contract manufacturer we represent in the United States.

Step 01

Create the 3D model

Every program starts with a 3D CAD model built for wet-layup composite parts, not for an autoclave line that will never run this job. Design-for-manufacture in Austin covers split lines, draft, part thickness, bond flanges, inserts, hardware pockets, and the trim boundary. We also set the laminate schedule — fiber, orientation, and resin — so the shop is laying up a defined stack, not guessing in the booth.

This is the step that decides whether a body panel, enclosure, or UAV cover can be tooled once and repeated. If the 3D is wrong, the master is wrong, the mold is wrong, and every part after that is wrong. Sign-off happens here, before anyone cuts a pattern in Mexico.

Step 02

Create the master pattern

The Mexico shop builds the master — the physical pattern — from the approved 3D. The master is the surface the mold will copy. Edges, radii, draft, and finish on that pattern show up on every part that comes out of the tool. That is why the master is checked against the Austin model before a mold is pulled.

A master for composite tooling is not a display model. It has to hold dimension and surface quality long enough to make a production mold. If the surface is soft, wavy, or out of spec, you will see it on the first article and on part 200. We do not skip this check to save a week.

Step 03

Create the production mold

The mold is pulled from the master and built for a real lot: first articles, then production in the 100–500 range. Wet-layup molds for automotive body parts, panels, enclosures, and UAV covers have to take repeated demolds without falling apart. That is a different tool than a one-off splash mold for a show car.

Tooling design follows the 3D: how the part comes out, where the flange is, where trim happens, and how the shop will actually laminate in the mold. Once the mold is accepted, it becomes the production tool for that part number. Changes after this point mean a new master or a mold rework — so the 3D and master have to be locked first.

Step 04

Create the composite parts

Parts are wet-laid in the mold using the laminate and resin specified for the project — glass, carbon, a hybrid stack, or another reinforcement when the part needs it. After cure, the shop demolds, trims to the boundary in the 3D, inspects, packs, and ships. First article is checked against the Austin model. Production follows that article, not a new interpretation on the floor.

This is the nearshore composite manufacturing step: skilled wet layup in Mexico, program control in Austin, and one U.S. contact from CAD through the crate. Typical work is body panels, equipment housings, covers, and UAV fairings that need a mold and a repeatable lot — not a flight-certified structure and not a printed prototype that will not survive production.

Nearshore

Why this work sits in Mexico

Wet layup is hours of skilled hands. That labor belongs next door, not two oceans away — after the 3D and master are locked.

One program

Design and the customer stay in Austin. Masters, molds, and parts stay in Mexico.

Close enough

Truck freight and a plant visit beat an Asia tooling loop when a body surface is still moving.

Trade

Mexico-made parts may qualify for USMCA preference when origin rules are met. Checked part by part — not promised up front.

Customs structure, when needed, is mapped before the PO. Not after the crate leaves the dock.

Start

Five moves to first article

Send CAD, photos, or the part — body panel, enclosure, UAV cover, or fairing.
We check laminate, tooling, and whether wet layup at 100–500 is the right call.
3D and DFM sign-off from Austin.
Master and mold built in Mexico.
First article. Then the production lot.