SOLUTIONS AND HIGH HURDLES
After we’ve chewed on your answers to these and other questions, we go to the drawing board (that’s so we can go back to the drawing board later) and come up with a recommendation for the best approach to design and manufacture. We look for the easiest possible material to mold to get you what you need.
If we see a high hurdle, the conversation can get, well, interesting. We’ve created hundreds of different containers, including many whose shape can only be described by the technical term “weird.” So we have a good sense of what’s going to be very hard to accomplish within the assumptions you may have made.
For example, some materials respond readily to being stretched, and others just complain and moan and show their displeasure in more serious ways, like blowing a hole in the container. If we see an impasse between your initial specs and what we know to be possible, we work with you to create a new set of assumptions.
CASE STUDY: THE MYSTERY CONTAINER
For example, we once were asked to create a container for holding fluid within a medical instrument. The container was to have fluid pumped in and out.
Now, that paragraph might sound like we’re being purposely vague to protect the privacy of our client, which is cool. But the truth is, our client was so secretive, that’s all we knew about the application! (The medical device industry can be pretty brutal, in case that’s not your field.)
What they would tell us was that the container needed a whopping 1/8″ thick wall and three 1/4″ ports. We knew right away that their dual desires for a thick container will small diameter ports were incompatible. We had to figure out a way to work around the incompatibility.
The story had a happy ending (which is probably why we’re sharing it on our web site). We got creative and added rigidity while maintaining thinner walls. (We added beads and bumps on the surface of the container, kind of like corrugation. It’s a trade secret, but we know you won’t tell.) And our client had to increase the diamater of the port to 3/8″.
THE FLEXCRAFT DIFFERENCE
I learned in Marketing 101 that we’re supposed to talk about how we’re different from other firms. So I thought about that question for a while, and here’s what I’ve come up with. The big difference is in the quality of our ongoing communication with our clients. We start talking about design considerations very early in the process. And we continue that focus on optimizing the design throughout the entire project.
And what this means to you is…
- An application that not only works the way you want it to, but can be produced reliably.
- Constant testing and monitoring of the part in real world conditions, so we can make changes and improvements to meet your real world specifications and goals.
- Rigorous quality control on our end so you don’t have to worry about discovering part failure after we’ve just shipped you a metric ton of engineered stuff.
- If you have a container or bottle that needs to be blow molded into existence, you can tell us about it using the form below (we’ll get back to you quickly), or just pick up the phone and give me a call:
