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Client
Profile:
Hewlett
Industries Incorporated
Hewlett Industries is a major manufacturer of plastic spools used
in the wire and cable industry. The company has been in operation
since 1981 and employs 60 people in Starkville and Louisville, MS.
Situation:
Hewlett’s competitors in the business have recently entered
the market with spools that are lighter and cheaper than currently
manufactured by Hewlett. This competition has led to a short term
decline in Hewlett's market share. In order to regain market share
and sustain past growth, the new product is scheduled to be in production
by August of 2004.
Solution:
In April 2004, Tony Carr contacted Dr. John Berry (a Mechanical
Engineering faculty member at Mississippi State University) for
design assistance to produce a plastic injection molded spool that
was lighter, cheaper to produce, and as strong as the current product.
Dr. Berry, who is affiliated with CAVS, contacted Ben Dawsey, Field
Engineer with CAVS-E (a strategic partner within Mississippi’s
MEP program) who setup a student competition to redesign the part.
Hewlett Industries along with Tony Jeff, MEP.ms Executive Director
each offered $250 ($500 total) to the student with the best design.
Results:
The students developed a 3-D model of the parts and performed Finite
Element Analysis (FEA) of the new design that maintained the same
strength characteristics while removing 40% of the material. Tony
Carr, VP of Hewlett Industries, approved the design and had tooling
made immediately to produce the new design.
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MSU Graduate Students are presented with
certificates
and a check for $250 each for winning
the design competition.
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