An automotive parts supplier came to us with a unique challenge. They were being asked to develop a replacement for a part that was last manufactured in 1958. All we had to work with was a sample part that did not operate correctly and a limited quantity of drawings created from the assembled sample. To create an exact replacement part, we used a combination of our knowledge with soft tooling practices and some 2D & 3D technology.
That said, the drawings didn’t give us all the data we needed to exactly replicate the original part so with the use of our 3D software and our Technical Engineer we were able to simulate a working part to prove our assumptions before sample production commenced. Once our verification was complete, we used the 3D data to create soft tooling used to form the prototypes and to produce the developed flat blank. Once the soft tooling was complete, we had the first part sample, fully documented and inspected, submitted to the customer in less than a week.
The customer gave sample approval on our first submission and was very pleased with the finished component.