Business Case Study: Solving Bond Issue Gets Product Launched On Time

The customer is a global manufacturer of material handling and sorting equipment. These products require large numbers of wheels and rollers in a variety of sizes, shapes and types.

The customer was developing a new product line but discovered a serious problem during life testing that was delaying the launch. The problem was a wheel that consisted of a metal core bonded to a polyurethane tire. The bond was failing despite the fact that everything was being done "by the book."

The customer was in trouble and approached Plan Tech looking for a solution.

We investigated the manufacturing process and zeroed in on the possible causes of the bond failures. The problem was in the process itself. Too much time was being allowed between the preparation of the surface of the core and the casting of the polyurethane tire. This delay resulted in the re-contamination of the core and the inevitable bond failures.

Plan Tech took over the production of the wheels and developed an effective manufacturing process.

• We produced the metal cores in house. This drastically shortened the lead time and gave us 100% control of the process.
• We switched to our proprietary surface preparation and bonding process that had a proven track record in similar applications.
• We did the surface preparation on a just-in-time basis thereby eliminating the re-contamination problem.

The result was good wheels on demand that enabled the product launch to proceed. Moreover, the life of these wheels has greatly exceeded industry expectations.

Please contact us for further details or to answer your questions.