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Henry Ford once wrote, “Any customer can have a car painted any color that he wants so long as it is black.” An early adopter of mass production, Ford tuned his assembly lines to churn out one low-cost standard product after another in a batch run.
Many manufacturers require custom-designed products with specifications or special sizes to optimize their processes. Until now, they had to choose an expensive custom product with long lead time.
Caster Concepts is changing that model, providing customized solutions designed to meet unique applications but without the long lead times. “We don’t believe in making our customers conform to our ‘standard’ products,” says William Dobbins, president. “Instead, we give our customers the flexibility to conform our products to their application.”
What makes this possible is mass customization, a revolutionary approach that brings the efficiency and cost savings associated with mass production to custom manufacturing. Caster Concepts is the first caster manufacturer to invest in specialized equipment that minimizes setup time and increases flexibility. This allows Caster Concepts to mass-produce customized products in small batches while reducing lead times by 50 percent.
Mass Customization & Casters
The industrial caster business has benefited from the mass production of casters. Today, standard casters are imported from low-cost regions. These casters are made in large lots and assembled in an automated fashion to minimize cost and to provide a very uniform, cost-competitive product line.
Using the most modern technology and lean principles, Caster Concepts provides exact application requirements at a mass-produced price. Using laser cutting and press brakes as opposed to stampings and ironworkers, along with a made-to-order philosophy, Caster Concepts delivers a product that best fits each application in seven to ten days, instead of three to five weeks.
Caster Concepts offers five different types of polyurethane. “It doesn’t matter what type of core goes on the caster,” says Dobbins. “We can pour a high variability of wheel sizes with the same urethane on them.”
“There are customers for whom a standard caster will get the job done,” says Dobbins. “But at Caster Concepts, we’re providing a higher level of value to the customer. If their process requires special heights, speeds, carrying capacities, durability, life cycle or some other attribute that has to do with overall performance, we can provide a product at a price within reach without compromising on requirements.
Design the exact caster for your needs on our Custom Configurator including the options you need, and download a 3D model.
