Mini loader front & side cover

Sherpa (mini loaders) aims to be a consistent market leader. Innovation plays a central role. In addition, we always focus on the combination of a technical product advantage and visual distinctiveness; the product must visually reflect its excellence. For the restyle of the front cover for our mini loader, we have given a designer the job of completely revising the existing design. We would now like to put this designer in touch with Phoenix 3D Metaal. When we involve you in the design and development process at an early stage, we end up spending less time and money. Can you advise our designer during the development and production of the design? This includes additional attention to (technical) manufacturability.

Sherpa’s requirement is grist to the mill for our Engineers. We always prefer to be involved in the creation of a product at the earliest possible stage. Many of our engineers have a design background and are therefore better qualified than anyone to give advice. The advantages of the rubber pad forming process (design, cost-efficiency, and functionality) – in combination with a focus on technical manufacturability – are always central. Our simulation package is absolutely key during the development process. It helps us to be able to quickly issue advice about the manufacturability and optimal design. Given Sherpa’s requirement, we focused our efforts on a product that in terms of both technology and design would be a paragon of excellence. In the end, we came up with ‘similar’ parts that we can produce from a single tool.

The ultimate example of a customer requirement where Phoenix 3D Metaal creates the optimal form of added value during the creation of a product. In collaboration with Sherpa and the designer, we agreed to divide the front cover to enable us to work with a single die during production (for both the narrow and wide versions). This obviously had a positive effect on the die costs. In addition, we ensured that the left and right sections were ‘mirror-symmetrical’. The result and advantage: a lower unit price because we can press two products simultaneously, plus the previously mentioned lower die costs.