Customer:
Global GPS Company
Industry:
GPS Navigation
Project:
A global, multi-billion dollar organization specializing in GPS navigation systems needed to develop housings, radomes, latches, and other accessories for multiples families of GPS equipment.
Overview:
The company produces a wide range of GPS surveying equipment for use in multiple applications—construction, agriculture, fleet management, and environmental services, to name a few. PRe Plastics was asked to partner with the customer’s design and engineering teams to optimize parts for the injection molding process.
Challenges:
PRe Plastics needed to develop and employ designs and materials that would not interfere with GPS communications, but would also be durable enough to withstand rigorous usage, extreme weather conditions, and rugged environments in multiple applications.
Solutions:
For more than 20 years, PRe Plastics has worked hand-in-hand with the customer to develop and perfect solutions for each application. As an extension of the customer’s engineering team, PRe Plastics assisted in multiple product designs and creation of customized materials. At the customer’s request, PRe Plastics has also accepted and taken on production using molds made by other manufacturers, altering them to improve design, performance, and product quality. Additionally, PRe Plastics provides a wide array of molding and secondary operations, ranging from overmolding and insert molding, to pad printing, custom painting, and assembly of parts.
Conclusions:
Our longstanding relationship of 25 years is due to PRe Plastics’ commitment to partnering with the customer’s engineering team to develop long-lasting products, our consistent high-quality performance, and our efficient turnaround for tooling and production. Out of dozens of suppliers nationwide, PRe Plastics is one of only two providers to achieve the rank of Preferred Supplier and continues to be a primary choice for new projects.
Customer:
Meadow Burke
Industry:
Concrete/Construction
Project:
Develop a low cost, yet high performance product for application within concrete construction to support rebar.
Overview:
PRe Plastics worked directly with Meadow Burke’s engineering team to develop a product from post-consumer recycled plastic.
Challenges:
Overcome the brittleness of standard recycled plastics, while achieving desired strength and minimal footprint in concrete.
Solutions:
PRe Plastics worked with Meadow Burke engineers to develop a co-patented design, plus developed a custom material formula using additives to strengthen the recycled plastic. This patented design, along with the custom formula, met the customer’s need for strength, durability, and cosmetics, while achieving cost targets.
Conclusion:
PRe Plastics provided a total in-house project solution for design, development, tooling, and production for Meadow Burke, beginning a relationship that has spanned more than a decade. Additionally, millions of pounds of plastic have been diverted from landfills due to our design incorporating post-consumer recycled plastics for these products, resulting in both a cost effective and socially responsible solution.
For more information about Meadow Burke’s products and capabilities, please visit www.meadowburke.com.
Customer:
Altergy Systems
Industry:
Energy
Project:
Altergy, a manufacturer of emission-free fuel cells, requested that PRe Plastics take over production of their fuel cell frame manifold from a manufacturer in China who was not meeting quality standards.
Overview:
Work with Altergy’s engineers to review the frame’s existing design, develop new tool, and carry out production domestically.
Challenges:
Due to the complexity of the frame, stringent quality requirements, precise measurements, and secondary operations required at customer’s assembly facility, PRe Plastics needed to develop a tool that could consistently provide high quality parts meeting restrictive tolerances.
Solutions:
PRe Plastics’ engineering team carefully reviewed and assessed the existing Altergy design, then designed the mold, identified challenges to overcome in the design, and made critical suggestions for mold modifications without altering key design elements. We were therefore able to manufacture successfully a tool that produced the complex part properly. PRe Plastics not only met dimensional requirements, but improved both aesthetics and product strength.
Conclusion:
PRe Plastics is proud to be part of a reshoring effort that brought work back to the United States, saved the customer money in total overall costs, and improved the quality of the product.
For more information about Altergy’s products and capabilities, please visit www.altergy.com.
Customer:
NexTrend
Industry:
Consumer goods
Project:
Handheld garlic mincer
Overview:
Design injection molded parts to be assembled into a handheld kitchen device for mincing garlic
Challenges:
- Design a substantial part with the look and feel of glass while minimizing wall sections to minimize production cycle time
- Capable of mincing garlic with a twisting motion, using two rows of unbreakable teeth
- Capable of mass producing at a low cost with minimal upfront tooling expense
Solutions:
- Designed a two-piece top half, hollow and watertight, that looks and feels like glass, to eliminate excess plastic and maintain reduced cycle time
- Water-clear, tough material was chosen to achieve the glasslike properties, provide substantial strength for the teeth and permit friction fit of the twist top without stress-cracking
- Multi-cavity, family tool was built and a custom, at-the-machine assembly system was constructed to achieve the necessary price point
Conclusion:
After a decade of production and hundreds of thousands of units sold, PRe Plastics is still providing a valuable partnership in the ongoing development of new generations of the “Garlic Twister”.
Customer:
ClipperCreek
Industry:
Electric Vehicle
Project:
High-power, next generation charging station
Overview:
Design injection molded parts for a consumer/commercial high power charging station to be wall or pole mounted
Challenges:
- Maintain a minimum footprint while allowing for easy assembly of all subcomponents in a UL/ETA listed water tight housing
- Identify and source a robust material that will withstand everyday use and meet V0/UV requirements, at a reasonable price point
Solutions:
- Designed a housing with only three major components, utilizing off-the-shelf gasket materials and strain reliefs to help minimize tooling and production costs
- Incorporated ribbing, bosses and other features inside the housing to minimize additional fastening components
- Partnered with industry professionals to identify a suitable polycarbonate grade to meet or exceed all of the customer requirements, while remaining within the customer’s targeted price point
Conclusion:
PRe Plastics provided a total project solution, in-house, for design, development, tooling and production for ClipperCreek.
For more information about ClipperCreek’s products and capabilities, please visit www.clippercreek.com.
Customer:
Celebration Arrangements
Industry:
Balloon/Floral
Project:
Create a free-standing support system for balloon/floral arrangements
Overview:
Design injection molded parts to replace extruded and injection molded parts currently made in China, while improving the overall design, function and price point. Develop a new and functional product line.
Challenges:
- Convert low tolerance extruded and repurposed parts to consistently durable, fitted components
- Mold key parts flat for packaging purposes that possess a folding hinge to work at 90 degrees when assembled, in a clear, concealable material
- Design many new features in all new parts, maintaining a low price point
Solutions:
- Replaced extruded parts with injection molded parts possessing high tolerance mating features necessary for an acceptable final product
- Designed a folding hinge system with enough strength to endure the lifespan of the product with the ability to be molded flat for packaging purposes
- Selected a Block Copolymer Styrene to achieve the necessary strength and durability, yet enough flexibility for the hinge. Its clarity made it ideal for concealment
- Built an aluminum family tool containing 20 cavities, in-house, to meet the tooling budget, as well as provide the targeted price point for the part set
Conclusion:
PRe Plastics provided a total project solution, in-house, for design, development, tooling and production for Celebration Arrangements.