An Introduction to Plastics West Midlands The introduction will show you who we are and how Plastics West Midlands can assist your business.

Fast cast route to production A manufacturer of cast polyurethane products was shown a faster route from design to production.  This involved the use of rapid prototyping to produce the casting mould directly from the CAD file, thus eliminating 6 stages and reducing the average time from 2-3 weeks to 4-5 days.

Problems in the hot seat A Coventry based manufacturer of automotive seating asked for help in identifying the reasons for, and possible solutions to, high levels of surface rejects.

Ground for improvement A trade injection moulding company had the idea of producing 'gravel' from re-cycled plastics as an in-house product for the horticultural / Garden Centre market.  The idea was assessed and the barriers to marketing identified in teams of price, uniqueness and practicality.  To offset these barriers it was proposed that a combination of added value special effects could be used to increase perceived added value, offer the unique feature of glow in the dark (photo luminescence) and create a denser product less likely to move about in a strong wind.  Moulded samples, geometric design images and materials sourcing were supplied as parts of the assist.

Micro Style travel hanger Case study details of an assist carried out on behalf of a small business in the Coventry area.  A company supplying a novel (and patented) telescopic travel hanger asked for assistance in taking out cost from the product.  The moulded nylon body was assembled to the stainless steel telescopic legs by means of metal pins and ultrasonic welding.  A complete re-design was proposed enabling a more modern, tactile shape to be conceived which would also eliminate much of the labour intensive assembly cost.  The overall reduction in price of 54% was achieved which together with design improvements led to a more marketable product which will be launched later this year.