Tough customers
Blue Diamond was able to reverse engineer and source obselete furniture fittings
Blue Diamond used its rapid prototyping and manufacturing service to solve component supply problems for Tough Furniture
Tough Furniture designs and manufactures furniture with the strength and durability to cope with challenging situations. The furniture is known for its resistance to careless or abusive treatment, and is supplied to special schools, children’s homes, respite care, psychiatric and mental health provision, detox/rehab units and bail hostels throughout the country.
Furniture that is used in challenging situations requires fittings that are designed and manufactured to withstand rough treatment. So when Tough Furniture was advised that an existing supplier was making a door handle obsolete it turned to Blue Diamond to design and source a modified component. Tough Furniture was already sourcing a number of parts from Blue Diamond including a special double cranked door hinge and various plastic moulded components, so it was familiar with Blue Diamond’s ability to rapidly re-engineer and source engineering components in a variety of materials.
The door handle is made of matt nickel-plated die-cast zinc and consists of a base and top. It is a key component which is used on many types of drawers and cupboards. Tough Furniture needed a replacement to be sourced very quickly and samples were provided to Blue Diamond to be reverse engineered to ensure dimensional, material and performance specifications of matching quality. As part of this process, Blue Diamond modified the component to meet the customer’s specification and evaluated every aspect of the design to provide the most cost effective solution.
To ensure that the appearance and durability of the new door handle matched its requirements, Blue Diamond used its rapid prototyping system to deliver samples within 2½ weeks. These samples were produced by one of Blue Diamond’s preferred suppliers in the Far East and allowed Tough Furniture to fully test the design and specification of the handle and agree any modifications that were needed. When the components were approved, Blue Diamond was able to place orders with its fully audited low cost suppliers to match the estimated demand.
By choosing appropriate companies from its quality-assessed suppliers, Blue Diamond can match the quantity requirements to the capacity available. So whether the need is for a small quantity, or larger production runs, Blue Diamond can respond by providing a highly competitive and flexible source. Quality is guaranteed by Blue Diamond’s Quality Management System which complies with the requirements of ISO 9001:2008.
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