Case Study
Industry: Precision Industrial
This specific chemical sensor manufacturer has been making air sampling, gas detection, and environment monitoring systems since 1983 and approached Seaway Plastics for their expertise in small-quantity injection molding. Also known as short-run injection molding or low-volume injection molding, small-quantity injection molding is ideal for prototyping or other limited production requests that demand accuracy, precision, fast turnaround times, and competitive pricing. This sensor manufacturer supplies many industries from power and gas to water and waste treatment, and has established a reputation for competency and reliability in their products. With over 50 employees, this chemical sensor manufacturer keeps innovating new and improved ways to preserve people’s safety and expand to new and exciting markets.
Our Objective
The company approached Seaway Plastics for a quote and explained that they required ten individual parts made for a new sensor used in a revolutionary filtration system for oil field workers. Through their initial planning phase, they understood that the company they chose to work with would need to meet certain requirements for small-quantity injection molding. The first was that they needed to produce these parts with a manufacturer that had high QA and QC standards and stringent testing abilities to mimic real-world situations. Thankfully, as an ISO 9001-certified injection molding company, Seaway Plastics was able to meet these rigid demands for quality assurance and control throughout the manufacturing process.
The second was that they needed a specific plastic resin that would withstand extreme exposure to moisture, particles, and chemicals. The plastic resin in question is an advanced thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) that offers impressive flexibility, durability, and the necessary resistance to withstand outgassing at chemical plants or facilities where the sensor equipment would be installed.
The third item that this company required was a manufacturer with experience in producing parts made with this specific resin. Due to its highly engineered nature, the creation of these parts required specialized attention and testing. Seaway has worked with several hundred different types of resins and was able to apply decades of industry experience to the project and provide the customer with peace of mind.
The Results
This chemical sensor manufacturer sought a local small-volume injection molding company that could handle this kind of work instead of taking business outside of the state — or even the country. Through their search, they encountered Seaway Plastics, and together, the two companies created a DFM strategy for the parts that took into account the resin needed, the tight tolerances, and the quality requirements to make these specialized filtration systems. Engineers and countless other people from each side collaborated on a design that catered distinctively to this chemical sensor manufacturer’s needs and provided the rigid levels of post-production QA demanded in the initial project scope.
With Seaway Plastics’ several different certifications including ISO 9001 and ISO 13485, this chemical sensor manufacturer knew that their dedication to providing quality products would match their own. They matched with the experts at Seaway as they each understood the importance of providing parts that not only met but exceeded, these high bars, especially for those on safety. This chemical sensor manufacturer claimed that having the quality control and quality assurance departments in-house with the manufacturer provided more accountability to ensure the parts were made with quality. By keeping the parts in-house, this chemical sensor manufacturer saved over $20,000 in shipping fees alone and avoided having to outsource the QA costs to a third-party provider rather than at Seaway. This customer also increased their product integrity through having all post-molding operations in-house.
Conclusion
While many companies choose to outsource to cut costs and sacrifice product quality, this chemical sensor manufacturer understood that their reputation built on decades of business could and would not be compromised through this tactic. Their sensors needed to continue to meet and exceed the high standards of government safety organizations. They could not risk cutting corners and by collaborating with Seaway on this small quantity injection molding project this chemical sensor manufacturer saved time and money knowing that the various certifications maintained at Seaway Plastics ensured their commitment to excellence and would ultimately deliver a higher-quality product that could keep more people safe.
