Case study · Mouldings + Products
A homewares brand that started with a cast mould and grew into injection.
The customer arrived with a sketch and a Kickstarter deadline. Three years later they run a standing tooling programme for the same part range across two of our divisions.
The brief
What the customer arrived with.
The brief was a range of soft-touch kitchen accessories. The customer had done concept renders, no engineering. They had a firm launch date for a crowdfunding campaign, and no experience of buying moulded parts.
How it went
Stage by stage.
Stage one — hand-cast validation
We built a single hand-cast silicone tool from a 3D-printed master. Twenty parts came off it, enough for hero shots and pledge-tier samples. The tool sat on a shelf between short runs. This work was routed through TCI Mouldings.
Stage two — cast production
When the campaign funded, we built a cleaner cast tool with better draft and vents. It ran a few hundred parts across the first year. The customer used those to fulfil early orders while we planned the next stage.
Stage three — LSR injection
Once the range settled and monthly volume climbed into the low thousands, we designed an LSR injection tool. This work moved to TCI Products, but the same engineer stayed on the job. The design changes we'd picked up from the field went into the steel tool before it was cut.
The result
The customer runs a standing tooling programme now. Parts are made to a rolling forecast. The paperwork trail runs unbroken from the first prototype cast to today's monthly release.
Lessons
What we took from the job.
What we took from it
The customer's launch window was met because we started with a low-cost tool, not with capital tooling that would have overrun the deadline.
What we took from it
Continuity mattered — the LSR tool was designed by an engineer who had already spent a year with the part. Nothing had to be relearned.
What we took from it
Cross-division work made this feel like one supplier, not two.
Related
Where to read next.
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The group
Which divisions worked on this
Every case study is a project we've delivered. The specific customer isn't named — the pattern is what matters.
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Real people, a real workshop
You deal with the people who make it.
No call centre and no middlemen. When you contact TCI Group, you speak to the team who design, build and check your mould.
- A real Warwickshire workshopUnit 15, Waterloo Park, Bidford-on-Avon, Alcester B50 4JG.
- Real people on the phoneCall the team on 01789 224228, Monday to Friday.
- The same team on every jobDesign, production and aftercare come from the people you see here.
- Five brands, one teamMoulds, culinary, construction and contract products, all run from Bidford-on-Avon. See the divisions.
Thomas LaneManaging Director
George PrestonDesign & Project Manager
Kelly BallingerHead of Partnerships
Jim AndertonProduction Manager
TheodoreEmployee Welfare