Do the Manufacturing Jig and Make Small Production Runs Easily
ThinkSolveDo
You know I believe the best way to test an idea is to sell live
versions of it. Who knew Pet Rocks, Slinky, Yu-gi-oh Cards and Spinners
(the car rims that move when you stop your car) would be so popular
BEFORE they began to sell them. People need to see and play with things
before they decide it is good. And when people buy your products you
know, with confidence, that they think it is a good idea.
This brings up a big question... "How do you make small runs of
products efficiently?" Small runs of products are expensive and you
really cannot do well selling things below cost. Knowing that small
product runs is not really very efficient, but also that you wish to
begin selling your products puts you in a dilemma. What do you do?
The answer is "Jigs"! This silly little word describes a tool, you
can make, that enables you to quickly create 10 or 100 parts instead of
only one. A Jig is a manufacturing tool that is more than a pattern. It
actually eliminates much of the measuring and almost automates many of
the tasks that you will need to perform before making cuts, shaping and
the like. Jigs are tools that save you time while increasing your
accuracy.
Here is a perfect example. I needed to create 48 identical plastic
panels shaped in a particular geometric shape. To create the first one
I spent over an hour. But once I had that first unit complete I made a
Jig and saw the real power of Jigging!
This Jig was made of MDF, 1/2 inch thick. I used a special vice grip
which was attached to the MDF using a 3/8 inch nut. McMaster-Carr
(www.mcmaster.com) has some similar called "Base-Mount Plier
Clamps" and Enco (www.use-enco.com) has some they call "Vertical
Hold Down Clamps" which sell starting at US$6.50. These clamps let to
affix them to the Jig and then easily lock down a part in seconds.
The Jig also used furniture quick assembly screws for alignment. These
have a long cylindrical shaft with only a little coarse screw thread at
the bottom. They are great for alignment pins. You can also use a
toggle bolt with a cylindrical shaft above its screw thread. Cut off
the head if you need to. The furniture quick assembly screws were
placed such that they allow the Plastic Blank (unfinished raw stock) to
fit snugly and only one way. An unskilled person could align a Plastic
Blank in under 5 seconds. Once the screws were in place and the clamp
was attached to the MDF here is how we would make a finished part.
1. Take a Part Blank
2. Place it into the Jig firmly against the Screws
3. Squeeze the clamp to lock the part
4. Perform the operation. (For this part it meant running the entire
Jig around a router in a router table)
5. Remove the COMPLETED PART from the Jig
Each part was now perfectly shaped and finished.
We were able the make all 48 units in about 2 hours. That is an amazing
savings of 46 hours or increase in productivity of 2300 Percent. And
each finished part was identical to the first!
The Jig removes the need to measure twice before cutting once. It
allows you to focus on production instead of the next machine
operation. And the cost of materials to make a Jig is often very
little. Your investment is in design of the Jig and that is time well
worth investing.
I am currently doing Jig design now! My NPD (New Product Development)
project has now progressed to Jig Design Phase 1. I will use about 6
Jigs for this project. And the Jigs will allow me to release my
product, in small run production, at my next tradeshow.
When I need to gear up for full production I will worry about paying
for the mold I need, if any, and the other high price items. But for
right now I simply want to make a product that works AND sell it to
people who can benefit from it. And Jigs are perfect for that. By the
end of the show I will know if my product is a winner and what, if any,
changes I might want to make.
Right now I am doing my Manufacturing Jig so I can sing my products
praises at the show. Thanks for reading.
ThinkSolveDo
Work with...
www.BizNuts.com NUTS about Business
www.ThinkSolveDo.com AFFORDABLE R&D
www.Fpoetry.com For a Mental Break
www.ColorCutter.com Unique Products
This article relates to... NPD, New Product Development, Innovation,
Strategic Innovation, Inventing, Product Development, Concepting,
Prototyping, Prototype, Disruptive Innovation, Innovation Expert,
Innovation Seminars, Innovation Speaking, Invention, Open Innovation,
Innovate, Unique Products, Inventions, Business Innovation, Corporate
Innovation, Ideas and more...