Spare Parts for Production Lines for Colgate Palmolive Manufacturing

3D Design, Contract Manufacturing, Factories, Implementation Advisory, Production Parts

About project

Comapny

Colgate Palmolive Manufacturing

Industry

FMCG factory

Technology

Material

Quantity

from 1 up 100 in a single batch

Lead time

5 dni roboczych dla pojedynczego zamówienia

Service

Colgate Palmolive Manufacturing Poland produces toothpaste and mouthwash liquids distributed to various European countries. The Świdnica factory employs around 900 workers and daily produces two million toothpaste tubes.

Mój główny problem jest taki, że mam za dużo pomysłów. Cubic Inch wybiera najlepsze z nich, testuje i wdraża je na liniach produkcyjnych Unilogo. W dodatku zazwyczaj płacę za mniej niż się spodziewałem. Druk 3D i technologia HP Multi Jet Fusion to magia w formie najczystszej.

Tomasz Pałka

Production Head, XO Boats

Poznaj nasz proces projektowy

Challeange

Production lines for toothpaste contain numerous standardized plastic parts. These parts must be replaced during machine format changes, and in case of any collision, they protect more expensive and challenging-to-replace production line elements.

Significant collisions could damage dozens of these parts, and waiting for replacements from machine manufacturers could take up to two months. Consequently, the factory had to maintain substantial inventories to mitigate the risk of potential downtime.

Solution

Our collaboration with Colgate Palmolive began in 2018 with training on industrial 3D printing, particularly emphasizing the selection of parts suitable for additive technologies. This enabled us to identify which parts across the factory processes could be 3D printed.

Initially, we focused on elements that incurred the highest costs and involved lengthy wait times. Some parts were previously created using SLS technology, so transitioning to MJF posed no issue.

After accurately scanning the parts’ geometries using a 3D scanner, we proceeded to regular production.

Benefits for the Customer

3D printing proved highly beneficial for the client, as evidenced by the figures below.

Cost Reduction for Parts

After implementing 3D printing, we reduced the cost of replacement parts for packing lines by 20% to as much as 60%, depending on the part type.

Shortened Part Delivery Times

Previous part suppliers delivered components within 6 to 8 weeks of order placement. The introduction of 3D printing, combined with collaboration from Cubic Inch, reduced this time to 5 working days, and in crisis situations, even to 48 hours.

Inventory Reduction

Assured and shorter delivery times allowed the maintenance department to reduce the number of 3D-printed parts held in storage by an average of 35%.

Facilitating New Ideas Implementation

Before adopting 3D printing technology, production engineers had numerous ideas for minor part modifications but lacked the tools to implement them. Now, they have access to Cubic Inch engineers who swiftly transform ideas into 3D models and then into physical components.

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Considering implementing 3D printing in your company? Learn about the possibilities and benefits.

Magdalena Pietrasińska

Sales Enginneer