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CASE STUDIES

INTRO

EACH OF THE BELOW CASES HAVE ONE THING IN COMMON. THEY EACH REQUIRED A UNIQUE APPROACH TO CREATING THE APPROPRIATE SOLUTION. MANY OF THE PROBLEMS WERE WITHIN COMPANIES THAT HAVE FANTASTIC DESIGN TEAMS. 

THE ABILITY TO STEP BACK, IGNORE THE LEGACY OF A SITUATION, OBJECTIVELY SIMPLIFY, DISTILL EVIDENCE AND EVALUATE A PROBLEM IS ESSENTIAL TO THE SOLUTION OF ANY DESIGN, PROCESS OR FIELD FAILURE PROBLEM. 

​AT IN-FINITE SOLUTIONS, THE ABOVE IS WHAT WE DO BEST...
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                                                                                                      ...WE SOLVE YOUR CHALLENGES AND MAXIMIZE YOUR VALUE
                                                                                                         WHEN YOU ARE STRESSED THE MOST

TROUBLESHOOTING CUSTOMER ISSUES

 
​A CONSTRUCTION EQUIPMENT COMPANY CALLED WITH A PROBLEM ON A PIECE OF OVER-THE-ROAD CONSTRUCTION EQUIPMENT. A CRITICAL STRUCTURAL BOND WAS FAILING AND THE PRODUCT WAS EXPERIENCING A HIGH PERCENTAGE OF  FIELD FAILURES. THE PRODUCTION LINE HAD BEEN SHUT DOWN FOR 4 WEEKS TRYING TO DETERMINE THE CAUSE AND NOT PUT ADDITIONAL RISK INTO THE FIELD.

BILL WAS ASKED TO COME AND EVALUATE THE PRODUCT, MATERIALS  AND PROCESS. AFTER APPROXIMATELY 2 HRS, HE IDENTIFIED THE PROBABLE ROOT CAUSE, SUGGESTED ADDITIONAL TESTS AND ANALYSES TO VERIFY.

MATERIAL CHANGES WERE IDENTIFIED, PROCESSES CHANGED. PROBLEM WAS SOLVED AND THE PRODUCT FAILURES STOPPED.

THE ENGINEERING TEAM WAS VERY TALENTED. BUT, IT WAS OVERLOOKING ENGINEERING AND PHYSICS FUNDAMENTALS. 
A CHEMICAL MIXING AND REACTION COMPANY CALLED IN-FINITE SOLUTIONS (IFS) IN TO REVIEW A PRODUCT THAT THEY WERE HAVING DIFFICULTY MANUFACTURING. THE COMPANY WAS ABLE TO REACT THE CHEMICALS IN SUB-SCALE EQUIPMENT BUT WAS UNABLE TO PRODUCE THE PRODUCT USING THEIR LARGE 4000 GAL REACTION TANKS.

IFS CAME IN AND REVIEWED THE CHEMISTRY, MATERIALS, THE PROCESS AND THE PROCESS PARAMETERS IN ORDER TO UNDERSTAND WHAT THE PROCESS WAS TRYING TO DO. 

IFS WAS ABLE TO IDENTIFY THE CAUSE OF THE PRODUCT FAILURES, DEVELOP A TEST PLAN PROVE CAUSE, AND REDESIGN THE PROCESS AND EQUIPMENT.

THE COMPANY NOW PRODUCES THE PRODUCT WITH 100% YIELD.

THE FINAL SOLUTION WAS NOT DIFFICULT. IN FACT, IT WAS QUITE SIMPLE, SO SIMPLE THAT IT WAS BEING OVERLOOKED IN THE SHADOW OF MORE COMPLEX SOLUTIONS.

FRESH QUESTIONS AND A UNIQUE POINT OF VIEW (UNTAINTED EYES) WERE REQUIRED TO SOLVE THE PROBLEM.
A CONSTRUCTION EQUIPMENT COMPANY CALLED WITH A DYNAMICS PROBLEM ON ONE OF THEIR UPDATED MODELS OF EQUIPMENT. IT WAS SHAKING VIOLENTLY, AND THE ENGINEERS COULD NOT DETERMINE THE CAUSE.
 
IFS WAS ASKED TO COME IN AND EVALUATE THE SITUATION. THE COMPANY EXPLAINED THE SITUATION, REQUESTED THAT AN ANALYSIS BE PERFORMED ON A CERTAIN SUB-SYSTEM (THE ONE RECENTLY MODIFIED) BE PERFORMED. AFTER PERFORMING THE ANALYSIS, IFS FOUND THAT THE SUB-SYSTEM WAS NOT THE PROBLEM. 

AFTER RETURNING THE THOUGHT PROCESS TO THE BASICS, OBSERVING THE BEHAVIOR OF THE EQUIPMENT AND PERFORMING SOME FUNDAMENTAL TESTS, IT WAS DETERMINED THAT THE PROBLEM WAS CAUSED ELSEWHERE.

A SOLUTION WAS PROPOSED AND TESTED. THE PROBLEM WAS SOLVED AND THE CUSTOMER WAS ABLE TO COMPLETE THE DEVELOPMENT PROCESS AND DELIVER THE PRODUCT ON TIME.

THE CLIENTS ENGINEERS ARE INTELLIGENT, BUT THEY NEEDED A NEW SET OF EYES AND APPROACH.
A NEWLY DESIGNED PIECE OF EQUIPMENT HAD BEEN DESIGNED AND MANUFACTURED. IT WAS A HIGHLY LEVERED DESIGN FROM PREVIOUS PRODUCTS. THE COMPANY HAD APPROXIMATELY $500K OF PRODUCT READY TO SHIP WHEN IT WAS DETERMINED THAT THE MACHINE SHAKED TOO MUCH AND OPERATOR FATIGUE OCCURRED IN A VERY SHORT TIME. THE ENGINEERS WERE UNABLE TO DETERMINE THE CAUSE. 

IFS WAS CALLED IN. THE PROBLEM WAS DESCRIBED AND THE CLIENT LAID OUT THE PLAN IT WANTED IFS TO FOLLOW AS IT WAS SURE THAT THE PROBLEM WOULD BE FOUND IN A PARTICULAR SUB-ASSEMBLY.

THROUGH THE PROCESS, IFS IDENTIFIED THAT THE PROBLEM WAS NOT IN THE SUB-ASSEMBLY, BUT THAT IT WAS A COMBINATION OF OTHER FACTORS.

FIRST, IFS IDENTIFIED THAT THE SYSTEM HAD A NATURAL FREQUENCY THAT OCCURRED AT THE OFFENDING MOTION. THEN, DRILLING DEEPER, IFS IDENTIFIED THAT THE DESIGN ITSELF HAD AN INHERENT INTELLECTUAL FLAW THAT EXCITED THE NATURAL FREQUENCY. THE SYSTEM WAS REDESIGNED AND THE OFFENSIVE OSCILLATIONS DISAPPEARED.

THE SOLUTION WAS ACHIEVED BY RETURNING TO THE FUNDAMENTALS OF PHYSICS, ENGINEERING, UNBIASED OBSERVATION, AND A NEW SET OF EYES.
AN EQUIPMENT MANUFACTURER WAS RELEASING A NEW PRODUCT. FORTUNATELY, SALES WERE BEATING EXPECTATIONS. 

CONSEQUENCE - THE COMPANY COULD NOT MEET PRODUCTION RATES TO MEET SALES DEMANDS.

COLE WAS ASKED EVALUATE THE PRODUCTION PROCESS TO IMPROVE THEIR PRODUCTION THROUGHPUT.  FROM HIS INVESTIGATION. COLE DISCOVERED THAT THEIR WELD FIXTURE WAS LIMITING THEIR PRODUCTION RATES. 

HE WORKED WITH THE PRODUCTION STAFF TO UNDERSTAND HOW EACH PIECE WAS BEING MADE.

FIXTURES AND TOOLS WERE DESIGNED TO SPEED UP THE PROCESS AND REDUCE WORKER FATIGUE.
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THE RESULT - DRAMATICALLY IMPROVED THROUGHPUT WITH IMPROVED PRODUCT CONSISTENCY AND QUALITY.

UNIQUE DESIGN SOLUTIONS

A MANUFACTURING COMPANY HAD BEEN USING A PIECE OF EQUIPMENT THAT WAS BROKEN AND PARTIALLY FUNCTIONAL FOR MANY YEARS. THE COMPANY ASKED iFS TO COME UP WITH A TOUGHER AND MORE SIMPLE SOLUTION THAT HAD EXPANDED CAPABILITIES.

FAILURE OF THE TOOL MEANT A SAFETY ISSUE OR EXPENSIVE DAMAGE TO PRODUCTION TOOLING.

RESULT - iFS PROVIDED A SOLUTION THAT INCREASED CAPABILITY, RELIABILITY AND SYSTEM TOUGHNESS


​A RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT ORGANIZATION OF THE US DEFENSE COMPLEX NEEDED A UNIQUE STRUCTURAL COMPONENT THAT WOULD WITHSTAND INTERNAL PRESSURES GREATER THAN 38,000 PSI AND EXTERNAL PRESSURES GREATER THAN 500 PSI. IT NEEDED TO BE LIGHTWEIGHT AND VOLUME MAXIMIZED (WITHIN THE SPECIFIED ENVELOPE).

INTERNAL PRESSURES WERE NEAR THE YIELD STRESS OF THE LINER MATERIAL. THIS HIGH STRESS STATE CAUSED STRANGE BEHAVIOR IN THE STRUCTURE RESPONSE OF THE SYSTEM.

BILL DESIGNED A STRUCTURE THAT MET ALL CRITERIA. THE STRUCTURE IS MOST-LIKELY THE HIGHEST PERFORMANCE STRUCTURE OF ITS KIND.
A LARGE MULTI-NATIONAL CORPORATION WAS PREPARING TO MOVE THEIR MANUFACTURING OPERATION OVERSEAS.

​KNOWING THAT THEIR JOBS WERE BEING TERMINATED, THE ENGINEERING TEAM HAD MOVED ONTO OTHER OPPORTUNITIES.

BILL WAS CALLED IN TO REDESIGN THE PRODUCT FOR THE OVERSEAS MANUFACTURING PROCESS AND CREATE THE NEW PROCESSES AND TOOLING REQUIRED.

HE WAS ALSO TASKED TO DESIGN THE EQUIPMENT REQUIRED TO PREPARE, PACKAGE AND PICK UP THE 45,000 LBS PIECE OF MANUFACTURING EQUIPMENT FOR SAFE TRANSPORT VIA AIR TO MALAYSIA.
A MANNED-SPACE FLIGHT APPLICATION REQUIRED A LIGHTWEIGHT, HIGH  PRESSURE SURGE ACCUMULATOR. A COMPANIES TECHNOLOGY REQUIRED INTERNAL COMPONENTS TO BE FABRICATED AND THE PRESSURE CONTAINMENT STRUCTURE TO BE FABRICATED AROUND THE INTERNAL COMPONENTS.

THIS VESSEL WAS ALSO UNIQUE IN THAT IT WAS A HIGH PRESSURE CONTAINMENT DEVICE THAT REQUIRED A HIGH LIFE CYCLE FROM A WELDED LINER. NO ENTITY HAD DEVELOPED SUCH A LIGHTWEIGHT, THIN-WALLED, HIGH PERFORMANCE, HIGH LIFE CYCLE VESSEL. 

BILL DESIGNED THE COMPOSITE STRUCTURE WITH A WELDED TITANIUM LINER, DEVELOPED/DISCOVERED THE APPROPRIATE FAILURE CRITERIA FOR THE WELDED STRUCTURE, SPECIFIED THE MANUFACTURING REQUIREMENTS. HE ALSO PERFORMED ALL STRUCTURAL, FATIGUE AND FRACTURE ANALYSES, MODAL, VIBRATION ENVIRONMENT AND FLIGHT LOAD ANALYSES REQUIRED FOR MANNED SPACE FLIGHT.

THE VESSEL, IN FINAL FORM, SAVED APPROXIMATELY 50% OF THE WEIGHT OF THE SURGE ACCUMULATOR WHEN COMPARED TO THE COMPANIES TRADITIONAL TECHNOLOGY.

THE SOLUTION WAS ONE TOUGH DESIGN PROBLEM FOR IFS, AND ONE HUGE LIGHTWEIGHT LEAP FOR MANNED SPACE FLIGHT.
A PRIVATE SPACE FLIGHT COMPANY WAS IN NEED OF AN ULTRA-LIGHTWEIGHT COMPOSITE COMPONENT. IN 2009 IFS VISITED THE COMPANY TO CONSULT WITH THE ENGINEERING TEAM ON THEIR CURRENTLY USED TECHNOLOGY. 

IFS REVIEWED THEIR TECHNOLOGY, EXPLAINED WHY IT WOULD NOT MEET THEIR NEEDS. THE CLIENT PAID FOR A DESIGN TRADE STUDY TO IDENTIFY THE TECHNOLOGICAL SOLUTION. THE STUDY WAS MADE, RESULTS PRESENTED.  THE COMPANY DECIDED TO NOT FOLLOW THE RESULTS OF THE TRADE STUDY.

5 YEARS LATER, THE COMPANY RETURNED. THE TECHNOLOGY PATH THEY HAD CHOSEN WAS NOT FUNCTIONAL.

THE PATH ORIGINALLY SUGGESTED WAS CHOSEN, WITH REFINEMENTS DUE TO TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCEMENTS.

THE RESULT IS THAT THE WEIGHT AND PERFORMANCE REQUIREMENTS HAVE BEEN MET AND THE PRODUCT DELIVERED IS THE FIRST MANNED-FLIGHT RATED ITEM USING THIS TECHNOLOGY.
A CONSTRUCTION EQUIPMENT MANUFACTURER FACED A MAJOR ENGINE CHANGE IN ORDER TO STAY IN PRODUCTION DUE TO EPA EMISION REQUIREMENT CHANGES. 

THE ENGINE CHANGES NEEDED TO BE COMPLETED ACROSS THE PRODUCT LINE OF 11 MACHINES TO COMPLY WITH THE NEW EPA MANDATE. MODIFICATIONS REQUIRED THE REFITTING OF NEW ENGINES IN 11 DIFFERENT PRODUCTS AND RE-TUNING THE DRIVE SYSTEMS OF EACH.

THE COMPANY ASKED COLE TO TAKE THE PROJECT ON.

HE MANAGED THE PROJECT AND COMPANY PERSONNEL TO COMPLETE THE TASK QUICKER THAN EXPECTED AND UNDER BUDGET.