A case study of flexible tooling solutions for a small healthcare company Online publication date: Thu, 15-Nov-2007
by Huw Millward, Chris Byrne, Tony Howells, Russell Penman, Richard Collings
International Journal of Agile Systems and Management (IJASM), Vol. 2, No. 2, 2007
Abstract: Performance Health Products Ltd is a small healthcare company that specialises in the design and development of posture management products that can be customised to the specific needs of the end user. The company formed a collaboration with The National Centre for Product Design and Development Research to develop an injection-moulded version of their AXXIS backrest system. This paper employs a case-study methodology to examine how flexible tooling solutions can drive rapid product development in the small company context. Customisation of the company's product has been matched by agility within the overall development and manufacturing process. The case-study shows that flexible tooling solutions provide a balanced development strategy, that risk management is a key element during the initial tooling development, and that cost reduction and time compression can be achieved through the use of reconfigurable tooling, high-speed machining techniques and advanced cutter technology.
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