Fortune 100 Imaging Equipment Manufacturer Turns to Specialty Design for Greener, More Efficient Toner Recycling Program

Release date: August 5, 2009

To see press release at ThomasNet.com, please click this link.

Fortune 100 Imaging Equipment Manufacturer Turns to Specialty Design for Greener, More Efficient Toner Recycling Program

READING, PA - For one Fortune 100 imaging and printing equipment manufacturer, an O.S.H.A. and D.E.P. mandated toner recycling program was creating a massive production bottleneck and racking up millions of dollars in unnecessary costs. The customer recently sought an automation solution from Specialty Design & Manufacturing Co., Inc. to address the problem. 

The Fortune 100 manufacturer contracted Specialty Design engineers to design, build, and ship seven custom-built generic toner removal stations to their American manufacturing facility. Having achieved payback on their investment just six months after project implementation, the automation solution proved to be appropriate and cost-effective.

"These special machines revolutionize the method by which the customer manages their toner recycling program," said Lee Ahrens, Engineering Director at Specialty Design. "Where they once ran a costly, labor-intensive toner disposal operation, our equipment now allows them to run a cleaner, greener and more efficient recycling operation."

Prior to meeting with Ahrens and other Specialty Design engineers, the Fortune 100 manufacturer had no automation process in-place to manage their toner recycling operation. To adhere to newly passed O.S.H.A. and D.E.P. regulations, the customer employed 30-40 people per shift to process the demand of used toners being returned for re-use. Problems inherent to their existing system included spillage, high processing costs, and carpel tunnel exposure.

Specialty Design's automation engineers designed a four-station, indexing turntable machine that allowed the customer to reduce the shift headcount from 30-40 employees to just one employee per machine. The machines all worked within a mandated 20 second cycle time, compared to a variable cycle time from the previous operation based on individuals' performance. Each machine completed all hole piercing, drilling, vacuum, and toner evacuation automatically.

For additional information about this project or to learn more about Specialty Design, visit www.specialtydesign.com or contact Justin Knabb at 610.779.1357. Specialty Design is a leader in the design, manufacturing, and integration of automated special machines. In addition, Specialty Design offers value engineering services, ranging from contract manufacturing opportunities, to CNC and Wire EDM machining for creating tooling, fixtures, and dies.

Innovation "deep diving"

Blog post: February 5, 2008
By Justin Knabb
Controller, Specialty Design & Mfg. Co.


Specialty Design & Manufacturing has been fortunate over our history to help hundreds of industrial clients to revolutionize and streamline their operations.  We think outside-the-box, we identify opportunities for real long-term cost savings, we make laborers' jobs safer, and ultimately, we help our clients to produce better products for the good of the common consumer.  Our in-house engineering design team is experienced with (but not limited to) prototyping, metal fabrication, tool and die-making, assembly, high-volume CNC machining, low-volume CNC machining, fixturing, robotic integration, and finally, long-term customer service whenever necessary.  We have thought outside-the-box for 41+ years now and look forward to the next 41 years!

Where large-scale automation and production is our forte, we'd like to bring light to one very fascinating and innovating product design consultant based in Silicon Valley, CA called IDEO.  On ABC's Nightline, the firm was the subject of a "Deep Dive" approach to innovating new products.  They were presented with a challenge: to re-invent a regular shopping cart, that could be commercially successful, in just five days.  In this time-frame they needed to work from concept to fruition.  Nightline captured their innovation process at work: their brainstorming, market research, collaboration, concept presentations, prototype design, concept selection/voting, product manufacturing, and customer presentation.

The video feature from Nightline can be found by clicking HERE, and is truly an inspiring, engaging, and thought-provoking process to watch.  Where at Specialty Design, we take pride in the uniquely intimate and experienced approach that we take with our customers to identify machining, automation and production solutions, this extraordinary "Deep Dive" approach to new product development is worth considering and emulating in any company.  The "Deep Dive" method is a powerful way to think outside-the-box in an even broader scope, as outlined at this link by Deloitte Consulting.

Thanks to IDEO for offering not just engineers but all professions a peek inside to the extraordinary way that they manage innovation within their company.

Specialty Design awarded for supplier excellence!

JANUARY 2008 -- Specialty Design & Manufacturing is proud to announce that a long-time customer recently presented our firm with their 2007 Excellence Award.  In the words printed on our plaque, the award is "in recognition of and appreciation for excellent performance and significant contributions to (their) success.  Specialty Design & Manufacturing is one of only 10 companies to receive this award."  Furthermore, our customer stated that of these 10 companies, Specialty Design is 1 of only 2 machine shops to receive this honor in 2007.

We are most appreciative for this accolade, especially given the size and international focus of the customer, as well as the fact that we were among the few companies acknowledged from their network of over 700 vendors.

Over the past decade, we have helped this fire pump and rescue equipment manufacturer (name withheld to protect confidentiality) to cost-effectively machine high-volume castings, manage their parts inventory in our own plant, and meet tight delivery schedules.  By outsourcing much of the CNC machining and inventory management with Specialty Design, our customer has greatly reduced their costs and re-focused on much more profitable assembly work in their own plant.  This relationship has truly been a win-win opportunity for both Specialty Design and our customer, and we are both grateful for this 2007 Excellence Award and our long, mutually-beneficial relationship.