Oreck

<  Parts Directory

Oreck: QC Jigs and Fixtures

Save a week's worth of time with 3D Printed fixtures for Quality Assurance

Key Insights

Problem: The quality assurance (QA) process for Oreck's vacuum cleaner parts has been lengthy and inefficient.

Solution: 3D printing the fixtures and parts using Fused Deposition Modeling™ (FDM®) technology with the F450 printer.

Results: Adopting this technology has led to significant improvements with reduced time required for testing and eliminating much of the potential for testing errors.

The Story

Before a new vacuum cleaner is put into production, Oreck’s quality assurance team conducts an inspection of all injection-molded parts using a coordinate measuring machine (CMM). Previously, modular stand-offs and clamps acted as fixtures to hold simple parts in place during testing.

More complex parts required machined fixtures with lead times of 7 to 10 days. Precise placement of the parts and fixtures for the tests was a pain-staking process that generally took 30 minutes or more to complete, followed by two to four hours of CMM programming time.

Altogether, the entire testing process took three – four weeks to complete. Now Oreck uses Fused Deposition Modeling™ (FDM®) to make custom fixtures that accurately position and restrain the parts. They also create FDM parts in order to program the CMM before the actual injection-molded parts arrive. Now, 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.

Summary

Post Processing:  Dissolvable supports removed in water based bath

Additional Post Process:  No additional post processing needed