Hangershell Case Study

Situation

Shape Corp’s Diversified Business Unit, which makes products for the automotive, healthcare, agriculture, office furniture and recreation industries, provided one component for a four-piece structural assembly that was used in open office furniture, such as cubicles. The customer received the component from Shape and combined it with three other components from various suppliers to create a final assembly. This process was lengthy and costly for the customer.

Solution

Shape’s design engineers studied the final product and it’s four separate components and engineered a simplified piece that did not require outside assembly for the customer. The new piece eliminated the need for the other three components by creating a channel on a second piece that replaced two wedge blocks. This second component was then spot welded in a secondary press to the piece Shape made, creating a one-piece assembly. When the customer was invited to Shape to compare their original four-piece assembly product to the simplified product created by Shape, they could not tell the difference between the two!

Solution Benefits

By creating one part that did the work of three and spot welding the new part to the original piece made by Shape, the customer’s product went from a four-piece to a one-piece assembly. This means fewer suppliers are involved, painting is done all at once and the pieces do not have to be sent for assembly. All of these improvements save production time and resulted in a $3 million annual savings for the customer.