At IMC we are familiar with a many opportunities to reduce costs for your project. Our Value Analysis process is broken up into these general categories for consideration:

1. Resin Options
2. Design Elements
3. Lean Manufacturing Systems and Automation
4. Quality Systems
5. People
6. Energy Consumption

Making the right selection of a Resin 

Resin costs generally make up between 30% to as high as 90% of the molded component price, therefore the resin selected for the application is a critical element of the component cost. We utilize five decades of molding experience to assist our customers in selecting the best alternative resin for an application. We would be pleased to discuss the options that we see are available for your application, otherwise feel free to use our Resin Selector Assistant tool.  (link to resin selector assistant)

If regrind (recycled resin) is not an option for your application, runner and sprue designs also are a significant contributor to inefficiency, particularly when generated regrind must be discarded. We have developed a number of proprietary runner design elements that are used to minimize runner and sprue volumes. Hot Nozzle systems also are gaining popularity as these systems do not generate excess regrind material; however, up-front tooling costs may be higher for these systems. 

The use of some percentage of regrind also is a significant opportunity to reduce costs. Resin manufacturers and plastic industry sources generally recommend between 25% and as high as 100% regrind depending upon the application. We have significant experience in maintaining systems that assure consistent and controlled regrind usage. 

Design Elements

Tool design options, such as hot nozzle systems mentioned above, can result in a sizable cost reduction over the life of the project. Design engineers also look for opportunities to reduce the weight of the product, reduce the cost of components, and/or extend the life of the product in the assembly. 

Not to be overlooked is the opportunity to reduce component costs by converting some metal components to plastic. We have assisted numerous customers to convert metal components to plastic components with very good savings as a result. We would be pleased to discuss you project and recommend components that could be converted to injection-molded plastic.  Visit Metal to Plastic Conversion for a description of this process.

Lean Manufacturing Systems and Automation

Lean Manufacturing is based entirely on solving the problem of waste. It details a constant process of analysis, production and mistake proofing. Lean Manufacturing is a holistic, comprehensive, company-wide program that is integrated into our company's core strategy. We have a variety of traditional Lean manufacturing system programs that are used to reduce costs for our customers. We focus on the seven sources of waste: 

• Over-production (production ahead of the demand)
• Waiting Time (waiting for the next production step)
• Excessive Transportation
• Over-Processing (Poor tool or product design creating activity)
• Inventory (Product staged but not finished)
• Motion (people or equipment moving or walking more than the production requires)
• Defects (Effort involved in identifying and fixing defects)

Inventory management represents a significant opportunity to save costs with the use of Kanban and JIT systems. We have flexible inventory, shipping, and "Supermarket" replenishment systems that can be modified to fit your exact need.

Automation should be implemented wherever possible to reduce the potential for human errors, control output speeds, and to automate the quality checking process. 

Quality Systems

IMC Quality systems are certified to international standards TS-16949-2002, and ISO-9000-2000. Many Quality tools are used to impact product quality, and thus a reduction in costs. APQP (Advanced Product Quality Planning), FMEA (Failure Mode and Effects Analysis), DOE (Design of Experiments), and Control Planning are key analysis tools used in the early development of a project. 

Six-Sigma Black Belt, and Six-Sigma Green Belt certified technicians are available to conduct a thorough analysis of the project.

People

Production employees have direct knowledge of what’s right and what’s wrong with each project. Production employees are cross-trained for flexibility and accept the responsibility to manage the costs of production, and to recommend alternatives to further remove costs. Fifty kaizens target improving products and systems at IMC each year.  

Energy Consumption

Being a good steward of our environment requires a constant attention to projects that promote a conversion to more energy efficient equipment and facilities while lowering our cost to manufacture. Each year projects are defined with the intent of accomplishing this task. We also continue to analyze opportunities for clean energy generation for our facilities while at the same time, creating less waste. Our dedication to improving energy consumption has led us to peruse ISO-14001 certification as we adopt management systems to guide this effort.