Ralph S. Alberts tasked our team with the design of an automated mold system to reduce labor burden and expand their sales capabilities into repetitive parts production.
Sponsored By: Ralph S. Alberts
Team Members
Sam Anctil | Stephen Szymanski | Emre Kocak | Ximena Benitez | Dan Klinger | | | | | | |
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Project Summary
Overview
The current process used by Ralph S. Alberts to assemble their foam molds is a labor intensive and has a lot of down time. The process has no automated procedures, which causes a dramatic range of time to complete the foam molding depending on the experience of the technician. Integrating automated parts would reduce down-time and increase part production.
Objectives
-Research available ways to assemble and disassemble a foam mold using automated machinery.
-Design an automated foam mold system.
-Reduce down time (shorten time it takes to cure and produce one foam mold)
-Expand the sales capabilities into repetitive parts production.
Approach
-Initially, we gathered information supplied by Ralph S. Alberts and performed our own reserch into ways to automate their current process.
-Research let us to six different variations. Dialogue with Ralph S. Alberts led to the selection of a pneumatic clamp.
-Initial component design commenced.
-A total of seven different parts were drafted using Solidworks. In addition, a series of assemblies were made and the team settled on one for its final design.
Outcomes
-The sponsor will save $84 per part as a result of this project.
-Manufacturing/production times were reduced by 1 hour as a result of this project.
-The project reduced set up time, assembly time, tool wear, etc.
-The project resulted in a new approach to foam molding.
-Ralph S. Alberts now has an automated design that it can apply to more facets of their business.