Outsourced secondary services save OEMs time, cost, and hassle

When injection molded parts require secondary services after molding, such as decorating and assembly, OEMs have several options – create a work center internally, outsource those tasks to multiple suppliers, or have the injection molder do it for you. In each scenario, there are varying levels of costs and supplier requirements to manage.

New Berlin Plastics provides a comprehensive list of value-added secondary services at a competitive cost that helps OEMs save money, labor, and reduce in-house supplier management.

“We simplify the process for OEMs by managing value-added services, but we still keep the price per part competitive from a total cost of ownership perspective,” says Business Development Manager Karl Held. “This level of support is especially helpful for those OEMs who don’t want to manage the additional complexity of the various supply chains needed to achieve a finished good.”

Value-added secondary services we provide include:

• Sonic welding, hot-plate welding, and heat staking to implant metal inserts
• Hot stamping and pad printing to add art such as logos or instructions
• In-mold decoration to overmold art while the part is still in the injection mold
• Assembly and kitting
• CNC milling
• Drilling and tapping
• Gas assist molding
• Insert molding
• Automation services, including 3D printing to quickly build end-of-arm robot tooling
• Testing and validation (both in-house and out-of-house)
• Chrome plating, painting, and hard coating (sub-supplied)
• Laser engraving (sub-supplied)

Less supplier management

While some parts may only need a single secondary service, others require multiple steps before they are finished. In some cases, they may require the packaging and shipping of parts to different suppliers along the way to the OEM.

New Berlin Plastics performs many value-added secondary services in-house and uses trusted partners to handle other services. Either way, the molder manages all supplier contacts and logistics to ultimately provide finished parts to OEMs on a turnkey basis.

“It makes sense for OEMs to lean on us to manage these suppliers because we have established relationships and streamlined processes,” notes Vice President of Sales Joseph Mechery. “There’s no need to go through the process of finding competent suppliers, getting quotes, and managing those relationships for secondary services because we’ll do that for them.”

We take responsibility for making sure the parts are done accurately and on time. In addition, there’s just one invoice to pay, he points out.

Consistent quality

Between secondary service steps, there are quality inspections and validations along the way. This can be very time-consuming, adding delays and labor for an OEM. When New Berlin Plastics manages our suppliers for secondary services, inspection is already built in.

“OEMs want quality and delivery to reside with one person for accountability,” Mechery says. “We remove the complexity by managing these activities and delivering a finished part. It’s a huge time and labor savings for them.”

Lower cost per part

New Berlin Plastics offers a competitive per-part cost even with secondary services. In some cases, costs may be lower than if services were performed in-house. That’s because we can have press operators performing some value-added tasks at the press within cycle time.

“If we have a laborer at the press or if we are automating a line, our workers may have time to perform value-added services between parts,” Held adds. “There’s no need to double up on labor by having someone else perform these tasks at another time and place.”

An additional factor in keeping part costs competitive is New Berlin Plastics’ very low scrap rate, which means OEMs don’t have to pay for errors and waste.

OEM examples

New Berlin Plastics manages kitting for one customer, allowing the OEM to send the final packaged parts directly to its distributors and bypass their internal logistics management function. For another manufacturer, we manage the path from molding to painting and then adhere decorative emblems to the painted part.

We also help identify ways to streamline and reduce secondary services whenever possible. For an OEM that previously sent out a molded part for sanding and painting, we developed a way to produce the part in glossy black resin that looks painted right out of the mold, saving both cost and time.

To learn more about the full line of capabilities and value-added secondary services provided by New Berlin Plastics, view our capabilities https://nbplastics.com/plastic-injection-molding-capabilities/.