Background
Due to the decline of traditional North American OEM manufacturers, Baytech began in 2007 to investigate “non-traditional” opportunities. One such opportunity was a start-up company in Vancouver, B.C., which was in the process of commercializing an injection grade WPC (Wood Plastic Composite) resin. This relationship developed to the point of becoming their preferred molder and acting as a beta site for all of their processing development.
Along with this new relationship, Baytech was able to connect with a start-up toy company that was headquartered in mid-west United States and was looking for a company to mould a new line of toy products. Dialogue started in the spring of 2007 with a conference call introduction between all three parties and discussion of the contribution of each to this new program. After a plant visit to Baytech, and some budgetary quoting, Baytech Plastics was chosen as the supplier to launch their premier toy into North America and the United Kingdom.
The Opportunity
Our mission was to assist in the development of an eco-friendly toy vehicle which would be made from 100% recycled unpainted plastic. Each toy would require no batteries and would have a manually driven mechanism to generate sound and light effects. Each toy would be completely manufactured, assembled and shipped from Baytech Plastics. Oh, and by the way, this new toy made from a plastic material with no historical data had to meet all standards as established by Toy Councils in North America, Europe, and Asia. The cost to manufacture the product had to be within our customers pre-established price range and had a critical launch window of Mid-July 2008.
The Solution
Starting from a target price point, Baytech reverse engineered the complete assembly by optimizing every element including press size, cavitation, cycle time, automation and operators. A cross functional team was formed between Production, Engineering, and Sales with daily customer conference calls to review design. The same team worked with external suppliers and internal departments to ensure that all areas moved in the same direction and stayed within the tight timeline. In order to meet the target date for product shipment, we required a final part design by January 1, 2008.
The Results
Despite the fact that we did not receive some final designs until March, Baytech was successful in meeting all toy testing criteria and fulfilling all launch date commitments. During an informal conversation, one of the principle toy owners was asked how they came to chose Baytech Plastics from the many capable suppliers; his reply was that “essentially Baytech Plastics chose us”. In other words, where others had resisted the challenge, Baytech Plastics embraced it.