Over the last several years of implementing lean manufacturing practices, Romeo RIM is still making significant investments in our world-class team, training, equipment and infrastructure. Not just a little bit here, a little bit there, but throughout our 138,000 square foot Plant 1, our 35,000 square foot Plant 2, and pretty much everywhere else throughout our 67.5 acre innovation campus.
We’re known for our large part LFI processing thanks to our double shuttle press which can handle part sizes up to 12’x12′ with weights greater than 70 pounds. And we’re about to build a reputation for increased capacity thanks to our new high speed long fiber injection (LFI) Rotary Carrier System. It’s a highly automated, seven-carrier with robot-controlled painting and molding featuring one-minute cycle times and machine redundancy for continuous production.
Some of our customers know exactly what they need, and we’re happy to help with composite solutions for solid elastomers like bumpers fenders, fascia and our exclusive HELP bumpers; DCPD for protective shielding, hoods and covers and body panels; structural foam for non-impact body panels, sound deadening interior panels and cab roofs; structural RIM for reinforcements, structural components and parts, and assorted other LFI and high-gloss LFI products.
What we’ve found throughout the years, however, is there are a good number of customers who don’t know exactly what they need, or they think they know what they need where in reality they need something else. That’s where Romeo RIM has made a concerted effort through our design and engineering team to develop enhanced prototyping capabilities.
Basically, we saw a need to provide our customers with a method to produce low-cost prototype parts for functional evaluation and testing. We jumped in with a goal of reducing the cost of prototypes by 50 percent or more, conducting a case study on a combine side panel prototype.
Long story short, our initial efforts were successful, and now we are good to go with prototyping tooling including FRP hand lay-up process for lower cost tooling, epoxy, and silicone (which is used mainly to cast urethane parts).
This compliments our production tooling such as steel for applications requiring a high gloss, class “A” surface finish; nickel shell for large parts or applications needing high gloss or a natural, textured surface; and aluminum for simulated textures.
Our efforts at enhanced lean manufacturing and prototyping at Romeo RIM put us in a unique position to adapt to the changing needs of our customers. As companies look to produce new parts, we stand at the ready to continue to produce viable prototypes across multiple market sectors.
