Recently, an existing customer called us with an urgent manufacturing matter and requested their current foam product in a different color. The original application required a reticulated product to hold a viscous liquid in place during use, while the new application was simply a stopper to prevent over-spray during painting of the finished unit. The customer had been using a single foam product for both applications; they were finding inventory losses as employees had been accidentally pulling foam parts from the wrong factory locations for their internal painting application.
Although the customer had been using a single foam product for both applications, they were finding inventory losses as employees had been accidentally pulling foam parts from the wrong factory locations for their internal painting application. The customer found by changing the color of the foam, their employees would be able to easily identify the correct part and this would ensure that no product confusion would result in the future.
We responded quickly by sending a salesperson to their location to help identify the new request. By asking the customer the right questions about the functions and uses of this new foam application, we learned that it did not require the costly and highly engineered foam product that they originally believed to have needed. Ultimately, we were able to provide and fabricate a less sophisticated foam for the new application which provided a large cost savings to the customer.
