A metal replacement component reduces costs by 83.4%
6 July 2018
When you’re manufacturing 250,000 units a year, any saving made soon adds up.
An annual saving of over £625,000 for the manufacturer
When Tex Plastics were asked to conduct a ‘cost-down’ review on a manufacturer’s core product – the whole supply chain process was scrutinised. Within this process the team identified a metal component which could be reproduced in a polymer with a low coefficient of heat expansion. The cost savings were potentially very significant because this single component could be moulded at 83.4% of the price of the metal part it replaced.
Prototyped and tested - the product was approved
With any product involved with wasted heating the safety aspect needed to be thoroughly tested. The plastic moulded component performed equally as well as the metal part it was designed to replace. The customer was delighted with the cost savings and the new plastic part became the standard.
The savings were greater than the sum cost of the part being replaced
As Tex Plastics already moulded the majority of the component parts for the specialist water heating system, the rationalisation within the customers supply chain also impacted upon the ‘cost-down’ design enhancement. The cost of holding stock, delivery and storage also contributed so saving was greater than the unit cost alone.