application customer story: oreck corporation
TRANSCRIPT
THE 3D PRINTING SOLUTIONS COMPANY™
A P P L I C AT I O N C U S T O M E R S T O RY:
Oreck Corporation
SITUATIONThe Oreck Corporation, based in Nashville,
Tennessee, is a well-respected manufacturer of
vacuum cleaners, sweepers, and other household
cleaning appliances for use in hotels and homes
throughout the world. Within the vacuum cleaning
category alone, Oreck offers nearly 20 unique
models which are valued for being lightweight,
exceptionally durable and easy-to-use.
Every new Oreck vacuum incorporates 20-30
complex injection-molded parts that must meet
specific dimensional tolerance requirements to
ensure proper assembly and performance. Before
production can begin, samples of each part are
created for testing. These are called First Articles.
Each First Article is inspected by a coordinate
measuring machine (CMM) prior to shipment of the
mold to the manufacturing facility, and once again
before the mold is placed into production. During
each inspection, the First Articles must be held
FDM Technology Helps Oreck’s Quality Control Team Perform
2,900% Faster
“FDM technology enables us to give the go-ahead to start production weeks earlier than in the past.”
– Craig Ulmer, Senior QA Labs Technician, Oreck
S T R ATA S Y S . C O M
HOW DOES FDM COMPARE TO TRADITIONAL TOOLING METHODS FOR ORECK?
METHODPRODUCTION TIME
COSTINSPECTION TIME
CNC 7 hours $250 30 days
FDM 3.5 hours $55 1 day
SAVINGS 3.5 hours (50%) $195 (78%)
29 days 2900% improvement
A P P L I C AT I O N C U S T O M E R S T O RY:
Oreck Corporation
rigidly in place. Should a First Article shift during
the inspection process, the CMM will register a
false failure.
For the test, Oreck’s quality control team manually
placed a variety of modular aluminum clamps to
hold the First Article in place. This pain-staking
process generally took 30 minutes to complete
and was then followed-up by two to four hours of
CMM programming time. Consequently the total
time needed to test all of the First Articles required
for production of a new vacuum model was
approximately 30 days. If a defect was found –
which happened at the rate of once a month – the
timeline was further delayed while the QC team
investigated the problem.
SOLUTIONOne day the supervisor of the modeling shop
proposed a new idea. Oreck was already building
Fused Deposition ModelingTM (FDM®) prototypes
in its model shop; why couldn’t they create custom
fixtures for use in the First Article inspection?
This idea revolutionized the First Article approval
process. Thanks to FDM TechnologyTM, which
builds plastic parts layer-by-layer using data from
computer aided design (CAD) files, Oreck can now
create customized fixtures that are specifically
designed to quickly and perfectly position each
Modular clamps were used in the past to hold First Articles during inspection.
CAD drawing of a First Article.
First Articles mounted in FDM fixtures (white ABS-M30) on CMM table.
ORECK CORPORATION / 2
A P P L I C AT I O N C U S T O M E R S T O RY:
Oreck Corporation
First Article for testing, thereby eliminating the need
for manual placement. Furthermore they can create
an FDM prototype of the First Article, which when
used in conjunction with the complementary fixture,
allows the QC department to preprogram the CMM
while the actual First Article is in production.
RESULTSToday, the opportunity for testing error has
been virtually eliminated, and the quality control
process that previously took a month to complete
can be done in one day — a 2,900% improvement.
“The accuracy and consistency of FDM allows us
to move the programming stage up in the process,
and essentially remove the First Article inspection
process from the critical path in the new product
development schedule. This makes it possible to
start production faster,” said Craig Ulmer, Senior
QA Labs Technician for Oreck.
First Article inspection of this part was completed within minutes because the CMM was able to be pre-programmed using an FDM protoype (white ABS-M30).
First Article shown as part of assembly.
Oreck has built many FDM fixtures (white ABS-M30) for CMM inspection.
ORECK CORPORATION / 3
STRATASYS.COM
HEADQUARTERS7665 Commerce Way, Eden Prairie, MN 55344
+1 888 480 3548 (US Toll Free)
+1 952 937 3000 (Intl)
+1 952 937 0070 (Fax)
2 Holtzman St., Science Park, PO Box 2496
Rehovot 76124, Israel
+972 74 745-4000
+972 74 745-5000 (Fax)
ISO 9001:2008 Certified © 2015 Stratasys Ltd. All rights reserved. Stratasys, FDM and Fortus are registered trademarks and Fused Deposition Modeling, FDM Technology, Fortus 250mc, Fortus 360mc, Fortus 400mc, Fortus 900mc, Insight and Control Center are trademarks of Stratasys Inc., registered in the United States and other countries. ULTEM™ is a registered trademark of SABIC or affiliates. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Product specifications subject to change without notice. Printed in the USA. ACS_FDM_Oreck_JigsFixtures_A4_1115
The information contained herein is for general reference purposes only and may not be suitable for your situation. As such, Stratasys does not warranty this information. For assistance concerning your specific application, consult a Stratasys application engineer. To ensure user safety, Stratasys recommends reading, understanding, and adhering to the safety and usage directions for all Stratasys and other manufacturers’ equipment and products. In addition, when using products like paints, solvents, epoxies, Stratasys recommends that users perform a product test on a sample part or a non-critical area of the final part to determine product suitability and prevent part damage.
For more information about Stratasys systems, materials and applications, call 888.480.3548 or visit www.stratasys.com
THE 3D PRINTING SOLUTIONS COMPANY™