Technical Situation
Our customer produced a valve component requiring 2 machined bronze castings and a very complicated assembly to fit an O-ring seal between the 2 components. The customer experienced process difficulty and rework costs to produce a consistent tight seal. They also had a premature wear problem with the rubber O-ring seal.
On a plant visit with the engineer, we became aware of their problem and made suggestions for a quality improvement with the additional benefit of a cost reduction.
Technical Situation
Our customer manufactures electronic equipment for the military and aerospace industry. These applications usually require enclosures that are light weight, impact resistant, and provide thermal and EMI/RFI protection. Traditionally, the only material available was aluminum. The problems with aluminum in this application was the weight and impact resistance. The weight requirement resulted in an enclosure design that was too thin, and the strength and impact resistance would not meet the design requirements. The customer contacted Jobst for a technical resource for a solution.
Our customer, a local production facility of an international company had a lot of problems getting a custom shape plastic extrusion from their European parent company. We were called in to quote on this product.
We not only quoted the part per print but working with the process engineer we identified a number of material and process improvement options. The buyer and the engineer adopted our recommendations. Together we achieved better quality performance, a lower price and a reliable supply. An additional bonus, the customer was able to reduced inventory levels because of our reliable supply.
One of our customers produces portable pumps. Traditionally these pumps, an internal combustion engine and a water pump, used a frame and sheet metal covers. The challenge was to reduce weight and increase functionality and appearance.
We proposed a fiberglass solution. Use high strength fiberglass, and use geometry to our advantage to build a strong, light weight and attractive structure for the mount and cover of the portable pump.
The fiberglass shape allowed us to create good airflow to cool the engine, insulation and reflective foil allowed us to protect the fiberglass from heat and the overall result was a light and attractive package. We used a clear lexan cover to protect the controls.