Clear, flexible, metal AND Plastic all required for production part!
From design to production, Plunkett's manage multiple manufacturing processes.
Requirements:
Having been involved in a cold store lighting project for a client, Olivewood recognised an opportunity to take a completely fresh look at how cold store lighting works in order to increase performance, reduce costs, refine assembly processes and reduce weight.
.jpg "High cosmetic prototype")
Simon Leggett, Director, had been recommended to come to Plunkett Associates for knowledge and advice about ‘getting things made’. Armed with an initial prototype he had made from metal, he wanted to develop an injection moulded solution and take it to production.
Solution:
Plunkett Associates worked alongside Simon to provide a manufacturing solution for him. Using 2D and 3D CAD models, components were adapted and changed for improved fit and manufacturability.
Initial prototypes were used for testing form and fit and then exhibition quality models with a high cosmetic finish were produced for marketing purposes. Photo realistic rendered images of the light were also created.
As a high performance product, material development was paramount due to the temperature extremes involved – the thermal analysis in SolidWorks Simulation was used to investigate this, and confirm heatsink performance.
Multiple manufacturing processes were used for producing the final assembly which includes clear, flexible, metal and plastic parts, the majority of which were manufactured in China by Plunkett Associates.
.jpg "Virtual rendered image")
Manufacturing processes included aluminium extrusion, plastic extrusion, injection moulding, cnc machining, die cutting and assembly – all managed by Plunkett Associates, giving Olivewood a delivered kit of parts at their UK site ready for final assembly.
The result – a high quality productionised product that can be easily manufactured and assembled.
Client:
“I can’t recommend Tim and his team highly enough. We ended up with a design which can be produced and assembled quickly, efficiently and reliably, in volumes that make sense”.
Simon Leggett, Director, Olivewood Technology
See Simon’s blog here.
