It's hard to believe we're half way through 2009. A lot has happened in these last six months: the technological advances are incredible - The Blackberry vs. iPhone "battle" continues, the automobile industry has suffered unprecedented losses, a little movie that could (Slumdog Millionnaire) won the hearts of millions as well as Oscar gold, and the Northeast experienced one of the grayest and wettest Junes on record, just to name a few headlines.
So for this issue of our newsletter, we thought we'd share what's been going on in ThermoFab's world over the last six months. And what better way to show what we've been up to than through a customer story. Enjoy, and we'll see you in August.
Customer Story: Spiral Biotech
Challenge: Redesigning Enclosure for Sleeker, More Modern Look While Ensuring Easy Access to Internal Components
Spiral Biotech, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Advanced Instruments. For over 50 years, Advanced Instruments has served a variety of laboratory disciplines in industries ranging from clinical chemistry to microbiology to food and dairy. Since the company's inception, laboratory professionals have looked to them for leading edge tools and exceptional customer support.
In their ongoing commitment to industry leadership, Advanced Instruments developed enhancements to their spiral plating technology. A new instrument was under development and feedback was collected from both internal and external sources. Based on the sales team's input, the plan to improve the functionality also included efforts to update the look and feel of the product.
Dave Valois, Senior Buyer, led the project and realized addressing everyone's needs and ideas would take some work. "Engineers tend to think about a product one way and sales and marketing will push to ensure that along with great technology and functionality, a smart looking instrument is created as well."
An objective for the company was to move away from the metal housing used for previous versions and improve the accessibility of the instrument's components. An industrial design engineering firm was initially hired to help with the product development, but when it was time to transition the product to production, ThermoFab received the call.
Solution: Design and Manufacturing Expertise for Updated Look
Valois placed a call to ThermoFab's Lisa King who over the years has worked closely with Advanced Instruments and manages their thermoforming projects. Advanced Instruments was able to leverage ThermoFab's extensive design team with their expertise in CAD, product design and manufacturing, color matching and tooling.
The initial design for the instrument included metal housing and a large number of screws to keep it in place. Upon closer inspection, the design teams realized this high volume of screws could potentially cause unit assembly issues and service problems down the road. Advanced Instruments offers all customers Hot-Line(TM) Technical Service 24x7, and if a question or problem cannot be resolved over the phone, an engineer is sent to the client's facility. ThermoFab's expertise in designing and thermoforming quality plastic enclosures meant the new housing could be held together with fewer screws, less hardware and unique design options! Fewer screws meant easier access and quicker trouble shooting by phone when needed.
ThermoFab also made recommendations on items like paint color, suggesting a standard color to save money while still adhering to the company's branding standards. Valois stated, "Lisa King and her team were great at staying on top of things. The design work and initial tooling were very impressive. The quality of the thermoforming was great, delivery went like clockwork and in these times, they offered flexibility on ordering and POs." He added, "I continue to be impressed that ThermoFab cares so much and treats us well. We are not a huge company or a high volume account. It is uncommon to be treated like a real customer, and ThermoFab has always made us feel like an important customer."
Result: Spiral Biotech's Autoplate® Spiral Plating System Enthusiastically Unveiled at 2009 ASM Show
Advanced Instruments showcased the new instrument at the American Society of Microbiology General Meeting, and according to Anthony Pappas, National Sales Manager, "The instrument received excellent reviews and the new design met our goal of having the instrument standout in a crowd. We had positive responses from clients, and enthusiasm from our sales team." He also noted, "ThermoFab was fantastic to work with--they took input from all the different teams at Advanced Instruments and incorporated ideas and visions into reality. They worked hard to look at it from more than just an engineering point of view--form and function were big considerations, and it shows." Valois added, "After this experience, it is easy for me to say, ThermoFab is our supplier of choice."
Bringing a new product to market with a modern, polished outside that matches the advancements of the technology inside all while delivering improved functionality and serviceability--what more could you ask for?