New Case Study Addresses Structural Failures of Integral Skinned Polyurethane Foam
Southwind, in 2007, was requested for consult by a major player in the Amusement/Entertainment Industry to evaluate and recommend possible solutions with regard issues they were having with structural failures of Integral Skinned Polyurethane Foam (ISPUF) balls that were/are integral to a high visibility interactive attraction at their Florida site.
The attraction requires 150 "balls" in play at all times and they are picked up from the floor and ejected (in both cases by pinch rollers) in a continuous re-cycling operation. Then priced at $20 each and having an average lifespan of six days they represented replacemant costs of $180K annually (without consideration of the manhours required to inspect, replace, and clean up the pieces).
Southwind's inspection of the "pick-up" vehicle identified the cause of the rapid destruction and our evaluation of the "ball" suggested a solution that would result in extended lifespan. The customer was convinced to invest $7K in new tooling to build a replacement designed by Southwind. Over a six week period Southwind designed/constructed the necessary tooling, produced prototypes, and conducted the testing neccessary to achieve correct ballistics for the new "ball" flight.
Subsequent use testing established a life-span of over three months for each ball. Though piece/part pricing went up a little the over-all costs were slashed (a 9,000 piece annual parts requirement was reduced to 500). Needless to say that that $162,500 annual savings resulted in rather quick pay-back for the tooling; not even counting the savings they realized from purchasing/warehousing, material handling, and maintenance.
If our customer doesn't make money, neither by extension does Southwind
