Client
Dematic
How Dematic’s Partnership with Impact Fab let them Slash Thousands off Design Costs
The Challenge
Dematic’s large vehicle weldment initially required a significant amount of extra machining after the frame was built. If we could remove the extra machining that needed to be done, or could do some of it at the start of the project, we believed we could greatly reduce the amount of time it took to build — as well as cut costs.
The Solution
We had to start by changing the way we approached the project. First, the mechanical team creates the full details of the frame that would be fabricated by Impact Fab. This is a large frame design. That is followed up with a meeting between Dematic and Impact Fab for the team to go over every detail prior to the frame build. After the frame is built, we got together to do a full inspection of the frame and a heuristic analysis of the product. How do we make it more cost effective? Are there things that we can do to improve the design / or process for the rest of the future frame builds?Â
The Results
By implementing the new process and sharing the workload between Dematic and Impact Fab, we are able to successfully lower the cost of each frame by $2000. We also are able to meet the specific requirements needed for this project, and increase the overall speed to meet the demands of procurement.