HP 3D Printing supports APCC’s high-volume production of packaging
Customer at a glance
HP Inc.’s Americas Product Completion Center (APCC) in Richmond, Virginia, packages HP Inkjet supplies and prepares them for shipping to destinations in North and South America. As one of four centers that perform these operations worldwide, the APCC receives bulk Inkjet cartridges from factories, packages them for retail, and adapts the packaging for the specific regions that it supports, which in this case are North and South America.
The center is not only a machinery line runner but also a manufacturer that plans and designs the production lines and produces the parts therein.
The challenge
The completion center consists of 19 packaging lines that undergo frequent changeovers and adaptations depending on production requirements. Engineers at the APCC plan and design the packaging lines and often need both support and spare parts for line changes.
In order to package HP Inkjet supplies in high volumes, the APCC sought a technology that could keep up with demand and adapt to frequent changes in production (e.g., different packaging sizes for different products). They also identified metal parts in their machinery that they could potentially replace with plastic parts.
“We went looking to see if additive manufacturing could play a beneficial role for us in our operation and help improve efficiency and take some cost out,” said Paul McArdle, Engineering Project Manager for HP Inc. “We’re always looking for ways to improve our costs and the speed with which we respond to needs for new capabilities and ways to keep the factory running.”
To learn more about how APCC used HP Multi Jet Fusion technology to design, test, iterate, and produce parts more quickly, and eventually eliminate the need for outsourcing, complete the form to download the full case study.
DOWNLOAD NOW
|
|