railflyermodel
Member
Hello,
I am pleased to announce some major updates on our on-site manufacturing ability and a significant change in our business model.
Due to serious problems with our ability to quickly run jobs to our expected quality with chemical machined products such as our photo-etched metal, we have decided to proceed with the purchase of a laser Engraving/Marking/Welding station.
The benefit of this is very clear; we have a lot of inventory that does not sell, and a lot that we cannot keep in stock due the requirement of “photo-tooling” for the photo-etching process. Thus, we get locked into quantities that are determined before the actual product release and therefore cannot always be accurately matched to demand.
I understand this causes frustration on the part of our customers, but we are a manufacturer, not a dealer so these delays are inevitable.
Production can only take place when sufficient funds are in place, and production slots available with our vendors.
To improve our quality and time to delivery we have begun the process to bring in a Foba Laser G5 with a 50W fibre laser. We have tested a similar system with one of our files and the results compared to a chemical based process are outstanding.
http://www.fobalaser.com/fileadmin/...heets/Laser_Engraving_Machines/FOBA_G5_EN.pdf
http://www.fobalaser.com/applications/gallery/
http://i1192.photobucket.com/albums/aa329/RFMP_2005/photo83_zpsb09186cc.jpg
The Foba system also includes vision based technology so we can engrave to micrometer precision which makes this a suitable companion to our Datron M7HP for micro-tooling. What this does is enable us to machine injection mould inserts on our CNC, then transfer them to the laser for surface engraving and finishing. The beam width of the laser is only 50 microns (0.0019”) and can do 3D engraving. This enables us to complete micro tooling in a rapid system, totally hands off, and done within days.
While we have had significant issues integrating our Datron M7HP due to equipment failure, it was determined in January that the root cause was voltage fluctuations. As of today, we are commencing a complete rewiring of our shop. These upgrades will be done after next weekend and will put the Datron into full production. The upgrades also improve our shop heating, add a clean effective source of air, and vacuum. The service will also power our laser and injection mould machine.
Yes, we have had significant inventory problems the past few years, the chemical based photo-etch nature of our products and out-sourcing our injection mould tooling were root causes of them; however these two new integrations of on-site equipment will quickly resolve this.
As the artwork for our photo-etch is transferred to the laser based production system, we will include new labels that include scanning codes to integrate a computer based inventory system that is reflected on our web-site. However, as a manufacturer, keep in mind that our production is made to order. We will work on a set production cycle. We will not carry excess inventory in most cases. Therefore there will be a lapse between the order placement and actual shipment. With the ability to do our own production, these delays will be minimal. Expedited service is available, and we can offer OEM or custom orders.
The laser is capable of welding metal and plastic. We can also do marking.
With our new drive electronics ready for production and the ability to restart our injection mold tooling on-site, the locomotive based kits we have been working on for the past few years will be completed in a few months. At the same time, we are gearing up for a production process that will put assembled and painted models based on these kits onto the market to accompany our new wireless layout control system.
We do ask and need for much increased sales over the next 30 days to put everything into place on our existing products. This will guarantee the arrival of the laser in April and give us working capital to purchase materials to restart tooling that was lost overseas last year. The past 8 months have not been easy but I assure you, now that we know the cause of our equipment failures and our actions to resolve them this week in the form a complete rewire of our shop, we are stepping up to the plate to offer state of the art layout control, locomotives, and better level of service.
All the best,
Christopher Howard, Railflyer Model Prototypes Inc.
www.railflyermodel.com
I am pleased to announce some major updates on our on-site manufacturing ability and a significant change in our business model.
Due to serious problems with our ability to quickly run jobs to our expected quality with chemical machined products such as our photo-etched metal, we have decided to proceed with the purchase of a laser Engraving/Marking/Welding station.
The benefit of this is very clear; we have a lot of inventory that does not sell, and a lot that we cannot keep in stock due the requirement of “photo-tooling” for the photo-etching process. Thus, we get locked into quantities that are determined before the actual product release and therefore cannot always be accurately matched to demand.
I understand this causes frustration on the part of our customers, but we are a manufacturer, not a dealer so these delays are inevitable.
Production can only take place when sufficient funds are in place, and production slots available with our vendors.
To improve our quality and time to delivery we have begun the process to bring in a Foba Laser G5 with a 50W fibre laser. We have tested a similar system with one of our files and the results compared to a chemical based process are outstanding.
http://www.fobalaser.com/fileadmin/...heets/Laser_Engraving_Machines/FOBA_G5_EN.pdf
http://www.fobalaser.com/applications/gallery/
http://i1192.photobucket.com/albums/aa329/RFMP_2005/photo83_zpsb09186cc.jpg
The Foba system also includes vision based technology so we can engrave to micrometer precision which makes this a suitable companion to our Datron M7HP for micro-tooling. What this does is enable us to machine injection mould inserts on our CNC, then transfer them to the laser for surface engraving and finishing. The beam width of the laser is only 50 microns (0.0019”) and can do 3D engraving. This enables us to complete micro tooling in a rapid system, totally hands off, and done within days.
While we have had significant issues integrating our Datron M7HP due to equipment failure, it was determined in January that the root cause was voltage fluctuations. As of today, we are commencing a complete rewiring of our shop. These upgrades will be done after next weekend and will put the Datron into full production. The upgrades also improve our shop heating, add a clean effective source of air, and vacuum. The service will also power our laser and injection mould machine.
Yes, we have had significant inventory problems the past few years, the chemical based photo-etch nature of our products and out-sourcing our injection mould tooling were root causes of them; however these two new integrations of on-site equipment will quickly resolve this.
As the artwork for our photo-etch is transferred to the laser based production system, we will include new labels that include scanning codes to integrate a computer based inventory system that is reflected on our web-site. However, as a manufacturer, keep in mind that our production is made to order. We will work on a set production cycle. We will not carry excess inventory in most cases. Therefore there will be a lapse between the order placement and actual shipment. With the ability to do our own production, these delays will be minimal. Expedited service is available, and we can offer OEM or custom orders.
The laser is capable of welding metal and plastic. We can also do marking.
With our new drive electronics ready for production and the ability to restart our injection mold tooling on-site, the locomotive based kits we have been working on for the past few years will be completed in a few months. At the same time, we are gearing up for a production process that will put assembled and painted models based on these kits onto the market to accompany our new wireless layout control system.
We do ask and need for much increased sales over the next 30 days to put everything into place on our existing products. This will guarantee the arrival of the laser in April and give us working capital to purchase materials to restart tooling that was lost overseas last year. The past 8 months have not been easy but I assure you, now that we know the cause of our equipment failures and our actions to resolve them this week in the form a complete rewire of our shop, we are stepping up to the plate to offer state of the art layout control, locomotives, and better level of service.
All the best,
Christopher Howard, Railflyer Model Prototypes Inc.
www.railflyermodel.com
