CASE STUDY: 40 Parts in 7 Days

A start-up company places an emergency call: “How do we get 20 of these things made quickly, without breaking the bank? We need parts out in the field ASAP! Everything else in the assembly is ready for production except for this one last piece.” 

They already know that regular tooling will take several weeks PLUS production time. We look at the faxed sketches and note that the part has just enough complex curves to make machining from billet impractical and time consuming. This is where the Z-Cast Method really shines.

Tuesday, Oct 14. - 20 “saddle” parts need ASAP!

Wednesday, Oct 15 – Official order received for 20 prototypes. Molds started immediately.     At least 12 pieces needed by 10/21. We devise a plan to make all 20.

Thursday, Oct. 16 – Sample “saddle” received by customer and approved.

An emergency order for another part is also placed for 20 pieces since no other supplier would be ready in time. A fairly simple part, the “stirrup” model is made directly from provided sample and verbal instructions in a matter of minutes – and then ready for prototype production.

Monday, Oct 20. - Balance of 20 saddles and stirrups produced using “rapid tooling” produced from approved samples.      

Tuesday, Oct 21 - Entire order fulfilled. Start to finish – 1 week.

Project Summary: 40 pieces produced in 7 days from sketch to delivered product – and all for less than the cost of traditional tooling. This includes design, approved prototypes, rapid tooling and machining.

But wait, that’s not all! Feedback from field testing result in some suggested changes – and most notably to the saddle. A handle is added, the center of gravity is moved and the wire guide is offset from action planes. Most of the design changes were done in a real-time meeting with the customer and the next day the completed model was produced for further prototype development.

Dent provided production quotes for as little as one piece to one hundred of each – and all in a very short period of time. Traditional methods would still be half way through the tooling phase in the best of worlds – and by that time Dent had already delivered the needed quantities.

The entire project was done quickly, efficiently, correctly and at a fair price.

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PROTOTYPES@DENT-MFG.COM