Moving an Entire Assembly Under One Roof
For years, PGI manufactured a precision industrial needle for a longtime customer. When the customer decided to shift its internal resources toward higher-volume production, they approached PGI about taking responsibility for the entire finished assembly. This gave the customer a more consistent finished product without having to manage the quality challenges they had experienced with internal production.
The Challenge
The customer produced a family of industrial needle configurations, each with different lengths and carbide ball sizes. PGI already manufactured the precision needle, but the customer handled the remaining components and processes internally.
The customer presented us with two challenges. They wanted to free up its in-house manufacturing resources to focus on higher-volume production, while ongoing quality issues with the finished assemblies needed to be addressed.
The PGI Approach
PGI worked closely with both the division manufacturing the product and the division ultimately using it to understand the existing process, identify recurring problems and determine how production could successfully transition to PGI.
PGI adjusted processes and invested in the equipment necessary to improve how the product was manufactured from start to finish including a custom-built brazing machine and a superfinishing machine.
We also developed a more controlled manufacturing process with inspection and testing requirements incorporated at various stages of our production to catch problems before they reached final inspection.
The Solution
With responsibility to produce the entire assembly, PGI was able to develop a more controlled manufacturing process for the needle configurations.
Today, PGI manages the machining, brazing, superfinishing, swaging, testing, final assembly and packaging. Inspection and testing requirements are incorporated at multiple stages of the process, allowing our team to identify potential problems before the product reaches final inspection.
Each completed assembly is now packaged in a custom tube with VCI foam for corrosion protection, creating a finished product that is ready to go directly to the customer.
The Results
By bringing the entire manufacturing and assembly process under one roof, PGI helped resolve recurring quality issues while freeing up the customer’s team and equipment to focus on higher-volume manufacturing.
By investing in equipment, improving the manufacturing process and taking ownership from component production through final packaging, PGI gave the customer a more streamlined way to manage a challenging product line.