Project Overview
An OEM found itself at a turning point. For three years, strong demand had kept the company focused on fulfilling orders. There had not been a “right time” to introduce a new product.
Then, business activity softened slightly. Leadership saw an opportunity to revisit a delayed initiative and bring a new product to market – and to do so quickly.
The OEM turned to a trusted partner, State Line Foundries, to ramp up prototype production. What began as a routine inquiry quickly evolved into a discovery of new prototyping capabilities that, in the end, would significantly reduce both time and cost.
This case is exemplary of an industry trend: Foundries are seeing increased demand for prototype work. Some OEMs are revisiting paused projects, while others are responding to new internal pressures to innovate faster. Either way, speed and flexibility have become critical.
Key Challenges
The OEM faced several key challenges at the outset:
Restarting
The OEM had been inactive on the product development front for years. Its team needed to quickly regain focus to meet new internal expectations.
Limited prototyping experience
The OEM had relatively little experience with modern prototyping methods, particularly 3D sand printing. This created uncertainty around process and cost.
Time constraints
The tight timeline meant that traditional prototyping methods would not be sufficient.
State Line’s Approach
A high level of coordination, commitment and creative thinking were required. How did State Line meet the deadlines – and deliver quality?
- Detailed Gantt charts were developed to map every phase: engineering, tooling, casting, finishing and shipping.
- Internal scheduling issues were identified early and corrected before they became delays.
- Production meetings of 10-15 minutes were held to align sales, production, management, plant leadership, pattern shop and foundry teams.
- Meetings also included planning to keep other projects on schedule.
- Casting production began immediately with the 11 existing patterns.
- New pattern tools were built and introduced into production as they were completed, rather than waiting for all 14 to be finished.
- Regular progress updates were provided to ensure transparency and build confidence.
- State Line hosted customer visits during the process to maximize communication and collaboration.
- State Line handled the entire project end-to-end across multiple stake holders: customer, engineers, pattern shops, raw material vendors, production, freight, etc.
- The foundry’s experience and technology ensured the challenging alloy was handled with ease.
- The customer benefited from a single point of contact, one purchase order and unified communication – rather than managing multiple vendors.
A Move Away from Traditional Prototypes
State Line began the process by bringing the OEM up to speed on the evolution of prototyping. Central to this shift is a move away from traditional methods.
Historically, creating a prototype required building a pattern – often out of wood – and then forming a mold from that pattern. This process was time-consuming, costly and difficult to modify.
Today, advancements in 3D sand printing have transformed the process. Instead of producing a physical pattern, manufacturers can now go directly from a CAD design to a printed sand mold. This eliminates entire steps in the process.
The impact is substantial:
Lead times shrink from months to days or weeks.
Tooling costs are significantly reduced or eliminated.
Iterations become faster and easier.
OEMs can now test designs more aggressively. Components can be built, pushed to failure, redesigned and reproduced quickly – without the financial burden of traditional tooling.
In this case, the OEM – previously reliant on wood tooling – utilized 3D sand printing for the first time. The benefits immediately became clear. Complex mold features were easily replicated by State Line Foundries. The molds were used effectively as one-off prototypes.
Most importantly, the new approach enabled the team to move at a faster pace. The OEM estimates that 3D sand printing cut development time in half, making it possible to meet the challenging internal deadlines.
Conclusion
State Line’s advanced 3D sand printing technology enabled the OEM to overcome cost and time challenges and quicken the product launch.
The ability to bypass traditional tooling, iterate quickly and reduce lead times proved critical. What once required months could now be accomplished in weeks – at a fraction of the cost.
For manufacturers revisiting prototype work after a gap, this case highlights a broader reality: Prototyping has fundamentally changed. Faster, more flexible solutions are now available from industry leaders like State Line, making prototyping faster and more cost-effective than ever before.
Do you have a project with tight timelines and high complexity?
Contact State Line to make sure your next critical project is an unqualified success!