Company:

Designer and manufacturer of innovative devices and systems for radiation oncology

Objective:

Address quality and price issues resulting from a previous supplier’s inferior production processes

Situation:

The medical device company outsourced two similar clear acrylic parts for aftermarket products. The supplier utilized drape forming, which is an extremely labor intensive process. Production was very costly and yielded inconsistent quality results as well as long project lead times.

Solution:

General Plastics replaced the acrylic with ABS, a less expensive, more aesthetically forgiving material. To streamline tooling costs and increase production volume, one creative combination mold was developed that could form one large part or two smaller parts. As the project evolved, General Plastics also efficiently and cost-effectively met every customer requested design challenge, beginning with the inclusion of a logo. Another design modification, involving dual sided textured surfaces, also dramatically improved part aesthetics.

Bottom Line:

The manufacturer achieved a remarkable 62% per part savings while its customers welcomed the multiple design benefits of a vastly superior quality product. Improved margins and shortened project lead times provided an opportunity to lower selling prices, which in turn increased market share.