Better than expected, but damn it took a while!!!
The craziness of bootstrapping a hardware company trying to eliminate as much supply chain as possible by manufacturing parts in-house led us to even stranger supply chain issues... This time with weird and wonderful heater probes.
Showing functional parts around the office from a first pass mould was a rollercoaster of emotions!
I'm usually the guy who creates the conceptual design, takes it through to detailing, then passes a manufacturing package over to suppliers. But there is another huge step in complexity to actually make parts to those specifications.
Learning those intricate details ourselves is rewarding and gives a true appreciation of those suppliers who are pumping out high volumes day in and day out.
Implementing repeatable and sustainable processes is what we have always done in engineering. Doing the same thing with weird and wonderful manufacturing techniques which could go to mass production – that is what currently EXCITES ME!
Let’s do something different and better than ever... let’s make some reasonably high value product right here in our backyard and use as much automation as possible in doing so.
This is my new challenge.
For now, enjoy my elation for our first tooling trial as we gear up for a pre-production run of clear seals before we go on to make tinted coloured parts.
Stay tuned.