Cost Reduction Custom Design of a Heavy Lid Lift Solution

Challenges

The customer challenged us with a cost reduction redesign of a mechanism used to lift a very heavy lid on a semiconductor tool. Safety was also of paramount importance as the lid weight is several hundred pounds and is routinely opened and closed to load and unload product as well as to perform routine maintenance. The components of the mechanism didn’t require the same level of precision machining that is typical to our process so a different approach was needed.

Solutions

We partnered with a casting house to collaborate on a new design keeping in mind unit and fixture costs, ROI and safety. Once the raw castings were received, we controlled all aspects of the post machining and finish operations but most importantly, tested under simulated conditions. As a result, we were able to significantly reduce the unit pricing to our customer.