Redeye customer realizes there is more to services than just prototypes

Challenge Aluminum tooling needed a 3-4 week lead time There were too many parts associated with the original fixture A lot of wasted materials Solution RedEye's digital manufacturing services using polycarbonate material

Results Cleaner design of assembly fixture Lighter weight Can easily resubmit file to RedEye for additional fixtures Cost savings associated with using a plastic material Faster, more compact device Realized that additive manufacturing is a sensible alternative to traditional manufacturing processes

Wair Products manufactures custom valves for a variety of fluids from its Bloomington, Minn. headquarters. The company designed a test fixture that clamps to a liquid oxygen economizer valve and automatically sets the valve pressure. Once the valve pressure is set, the fixture does a complete pressure test of the valve assembly. The valve regulates oxygen flow from portable oxygen tanks to humans.

Demand for the valve continued to increase and Wair Products quickly needed additional fixtures to test the valve before shipping out orders. The aluminum tooling company that previously machined the fixture needed a three-to-four week lead time and its complex geometries made it extremely difficult to machine with aluminum. Because the design is so complex, aluminum tooling created eight parts that needed assembly before the fixture could actually test the valves.

In order to meet increasingly tight deadlines, Wair Products needed to find an alternate manufacturing solution. Pete Nelson, owner of Wair Products, was aware of the technology that RedEye provides. “I saw ads for RedEye in various trade publications,” said Pete. “One of our former employees works for RedEye now and we decided to see what they had to offer.”

RedEye understood the time conflict that Wair Products faced, but this was the first jig and fixture order they received. “We were confident in our ability to quickly produce the part for the fixture,” said Jeff Hanson, sales manager at RedEye. “This opportunity opened a new door for us in a niche that we didn’t realize could utilize our services.”

RedEye took on the project to manufacture the fixture that Wair Products needed dramatically decreasing the waste expelled from the aluminum process. “There were too many parts associated with the original,” said Chris H., engineering manager at Wair Products. “Digitally manufacturing the fixture with polycarbonate took it from eight pieces to one, more accurate piece that lines up.” Ultimately, digital manufacturing produced a cleaner design of the assembly fixture.

“People are constantly lifting these fixtures on and off of the shelves to test valves,” said Pete. “By using plastic, we significantly decreased its weight. Our employees are glad we switched to plastic too.”

Although RedEye only produced one fixture for Wair Products this time around, they expect to use the technology in the near future as orders for the valves increase. “We can easily submit a file without redoing it, which saves us engineering time and in the end, money,” said Chris. “Plus, we have a single source with more machines than anyone else.”

Pete and Chris were pleasantly surprised by the design time saved using RedEye’s services. “We are valve designers, not fixture designers, but we must design one to get the other,” said Chris. “By allowing us to simplify the design process, we can get back to our core competency.”

“We automated the process of testing the valve, which used to be a manual process,” Pete added. “Now, we are a key player because we were able to automate the manufacturing process too.

“It was a positive experience,” he noted. “It opened our eyes to using this technology for jigs and fixtures in addition to prototypes.”

Company Profile
Wair Products (www.wairproducts.com) is a Bloomington, Minn.-based company that manufactures custom valves for a variety of fluids. The company was established in 1988 as a spin-off from a mobile equipment hydraulic valve manufacturer. The first product Wair Products introduced was a sanitizing system for bulk beverage syrup tanks distributed to the fast food industry.

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Case Study done by:
RedEye
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