Case study · Mouldings + Products + Construction
A UK manufacturer that needed three divisions on one product.
A new outdoor product needed prototype parts, moulded rubber feet and seals, and a cast concrete base. Three divisions, one programme, one lead engineer.
The brief
What the customer arrived with.
A UK manufacturer of outdoor and street equipment was developing a new free-standing unit. It needed soft-touch prototype parts for user trials, EPDM seals and anti-vibration feet for production, and a weighted cast concrete base with a textured finish. They had expected to find three suppliers.
How it went
Stage by stage.
Prototype parts — Mouldings
TCI Mouldings produced hand-cast silicone and PU prototype parts from the manufacturer's 3D prints. Two design iterations were cast and trialled before the design was frozen.
Seals and feet — Products
TCI Products designed compression tools for EPDM seals and bonded rubber-to-metal anti-vibration feet, with bond tests on first-off parts.
Concrete base — Construction
TCI Construction built silicone tooling for the textured concrete base, specified to survive repeated casting with the manufacturer's precast partner.
One programme
A single project manager ran the schedule across all three divisions, with supplier liaison to the precast partner and the metalwork supplier. Interfaces between base, frame and seals were agreed directly between the engineers involved.
The result
The unit launched with parts from three divisions arriving to one schedule. Seals and feet are on repeat call-off; the concrete tooling is held by the precast partner and refurbished by us between contracts.
Lessons
What we took from the job.
What we took from it
Products that cross materials and industries still benefit from one owner for the whole moulded content.
What we took from it
Direct liaison with the customer's other suppliers removed a round of fit problems before they happened.
What we took from it
Prototype learning in one division fed straight into tooling in two others because the same team held it.
Related
Where to read next.
Four divisions working to one plan, not four.
A programme that needs a formliner, a food-safe tray and a rubber gasket touches three divisions. We sequence them as…
We talk to your other suppliers so you don't have to relay it.
Your moulded part meets someone else's plastic housing, metal bracket or packaging. We'll speak to those suppliers…
Silicone moulded onto metal, bonded or captured.
Threaded bushes, mounting plates, brackets and pins, with silicone or rubber moulded around them. The bond, the insert…
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.
At a glance
The idea in a picture.
Five brands, one team
Swipe to see the whole diagram
Get in touch
Not sure which division? Tell us what you're making.
Send us a sketch, a photograph, or a paragraph. We'll come back with the right division, the right route, and an honest sense of what it will take.
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