October 2008
Regardless of the industry, we've all heard the stories of people taking their business
overseas--whether it's manufacturing or the buying of parts or setting up customer service centers. People automatically think "less money," when thinking "overseas." While watching bottom lines is always prudent business practice, it's still important to weigh savings against "value costs."
Why Thermoforming in the US Makes Sense
Understanding Value Costs:
Value costs involve more than the
cost of labor and tooling alone. Value costs refer to those intangible, and often
immeasurable things, like service (e.g. people returning your phone calls within the same day),
engineering support, and, of course, quality. On paper, you may save x-amount of dollars on labor and tooling if you bring your business overseas. But you need to ensure that your value costs don't increase as a result.
Before deciding whether you should take your business overseas, answer the following questions:
- What value do you place on having your questions and problems answered and addressed on
the same day, often within hours of the question being asked?
- What value do you place on knowing that your product won't get held up due to political
unrest, environmental issues, or other problems?
- What value do you place on getting your product to market on time?
Value Costs in Action: How One Client Decided Domestic is Best
To illustrate what we mean by "value costs," let's consider a real-life situation with one of our clients. Located in Bedford, Mass., GSI Group is a diversified business with laser
technology at its core. Its other products include galvanometers, encoders, silicone wafer
processing, and medical strip chart recorders (printers).
GSI needed an enclosure shell for a stand-alone four-inch roll printer to be used bedside. The original deadline was four months, and volumes were low at 300 to 500 per
year. GSI quoted both domestic and foreign (China) sources for tooling and parts.
GSI's Senior Mechanical Engineer, Carl Anderson, says, "The problem we had with China
was two-fold. First, most good Chinese suppliers want large volumes, such as 100K or more per
year per part. Second, most Chinese suppliers don't do well with prototype orders. The
turnaround time is too long for product development and it takes a minimum of three days
to turn around questions and answers on most things."
GSI decided to work with ThermoFab since ThermoFab could work within GSI's original timeframe and because it was able to respond to questions and changes immediately. Anderson adds, "The Chinese supplier wanted a minimum order quantity of 5,000 units per year, and we only had initial orders for 500 per year. We would have had to store the balance of the parts here, and we have since had to make changes that would have caused us to scrap the remaining units and re-purchase another 5,000. Also the shape of our part and a lack of experience with the Chinese supplier caused us to consider staying with a local supplier."
So what advice does Anderson have for companies that are thinking of having parts manufactured overseas? Anderson says,"First, I strongly advise doing all your development work in a way that allows for the maximum flexibility and leveraging of your local supplier. Then when you have the design perfected and ready for production, you should look at the total cost of manufacturing, which should include materials, labor, shipping, engineering support, and anything else having to do with insuring the product moves out the door on time. Looking at labor and tooling costs alone is very short sighted and will not serve you well in the long run. Offshore supply chains can become unstable or unusable due to political, environmental, or material sourcing issues. The relative stability inside the U.S. can blind you to circumstances offshore that can be deleterious to your product in every way possible."
Anderson goes on to say that he's found good and bad domestic and foreign suppliers. The key is to build up good working relationships with emphasis first on flexibility from both sides and an upfront acknowledgement that time to market, lowest total cost, and high quality are the primary goals to be achieved and maintained.
At ThermoFab, we couldn't agree more. That's why we pride ourselves on providing our clients with comprehensive quality service that includes tooling, painting, engineering, and designing all under one roof.
Experience the "ThermoFab way" for yourself by seeing our plant in action. Schedule a tour today.
Titleist: Made in...Massachusetts!
Challenge: Protecting Sensitive Electronics from Grueling Heat
The Titleist Launch Monitor� (TLM�) is a diagnostic tool that analyzes a golfer's
swing. With this data, equipment changes can be recommended to help improve the golfer's game
based on his or her current swing. TLMs make the rounds of golf courses--from New England to
Florida to Arizona. Often packed in cars or vans, the launch monitor's plastic housing needs
to protect the delicate digital cameras and other computer components inside from extreme
temperatures found in the environment and inside vehicles.
The original prototype for the most recent version of the Titleist Launch Monitor was made from cast urethane. While urethane works well for prototypes and trade show models, it cannot meet the demands of fluctuating temperatures, specifically extreme heat. Despite this fact, production began, and urethane was used. The resulting TLM could not withstand the grueling summer weather.
Solution: Choosing the Right Heat-Resistant Materials & Pressure Forming
to Perfection
Massachusetts-based Acushnet Company, which owns the Titleist brand,
brought in Carroll Design, based in Lowell, Mass., to finish the CAD models for the TLM.
Carroll Design then referred the project to ThermoFab to correct the issue with the material
and process used in the prototype.
Because urethane has limitations in terms of heat resistance, it became obvious that
urethane was a poor choice from the beginning. In the new prototype, which ultimately led to the product that's currently in use, ThermoFab chose to pressure form the parts using KYDEX�
V103 (UL Std. 94 5V), a fire-retardant thermoplastic sheet.
Pressure forming is preferable to vacuum forming because custom plastic enclosures often require features that cannot be achieved by vacuum forming alone. For smaller volume runs, pressure forming offers injection-molded quality and details. The pressure applied (up to 100 pounds per square inch) is approximately five times higher than with vacuum forming, which makes it possible to obtain highly detailed parts and textured finishes. Pressure forming uses air pressure to achieve intricate detail on the mold side and a higher quality finish that leads to sharp edges, undercuts, and other close tolerance details.
ThermoFab used its 5-axis computer numeric controlled (CNC) router for the 3-dimensional machining. The 5-axis machine allows for the most complex finishing to take place with one set-up, which saves significant time by eliminating additional fixturing and set-up for secondary operations. ThermoFab used the 3D model supplied by Carroll Design to cut
the tools and trim the parts, and then the three main monitor parts were bonded together using
adhesive called Plexus MA300.
The parts were then painted with Urachem, a two- component polyurethane enamel, which can be textured or applied as a smooth coat. Urachem is extremely resilient in myriad weather conditions and can be color matched. To this end, ThermoFab took a metal Titleist golf club and matched the color of the club's head to the color of the Urachem used on the TLM.
After assembling the product, ThermoFab used its coordinate measuring machine (CMM) to ensure the dimensions matched those of the 3D file. In addition, it conducted drop tests from a height of three feet to check for joint strength and the durability of the structure.
The Result: A Product That Performs Well Under Pressure--And Looks Great While Doing It
Thanks to ThermoFab's choice of materials and manufacturing process, the Titleist Launch Monitor can withstand extreme weather conditions, such as heat, while still maintaining the cool, professional image that Titleist is known for. What more could you ask for?
Read other customer stories.
ThermoFab is committed to being the leader in custom plastic enclosures.
Contact us today to learn how we can take you from files to finished product in just 4-6 weeks!
Sincerely,
Tom King, Jr., President
ThermoFab
email: engineering@thermofab.com
phone: 888-494-9777
web: http://www.thermofab.com