The Power of Product Design Collaboration

A major outdoor equipment manufacturer contacted Plastocon at the “brainstorming” phase of the project to develop a very robust, but inexpensive wheel for their pressure washers.

A project engineering manager along with a technical sales specialist from Plastocon was assigned direct responsibility to work with the customer’s designers and product development engineers. The team involved all participants in the project including toolmakers, resin suppliers, and a variety of experts to work on part and tool design along with resin selection to meet the design and functionality requirements.

Many roadblocks were encountered. All were systematically overcome, using a variety of inputs including mold flow analysis and finite element analysis! 3 other suppliers, including wheel specialists, had also been contacted by the customer. At the end of the day, Plastocon's concept (which others said would not work) met all the project requirements including low tooling costs and we were awarded the project. All other competitive options were too complex, too expensive, or did not meet the design criteria. Prototype tools were built that ultimately served as bridge production tools. At the same time, production tooling was initiated. The project was a major success being on time and on budget.

The key to the success of the collaborative effort was the close working relationships with the customer and the Plastocon Engineering Project Team.