Engineering outsourcing case study:
Engine & Energy Management
This engineering outsourcing project required complete manufacturing plant layout, assembly
line design and build services. Technical specialties required for this program included
a large engineering team of:
- Plant Managers
- Robotic Controls Engineers
- Industrial Engineers
- Manufacturing Engineers
- Quality Engineers
- Process Engineers
- Production Supervisors
These engineers helped manufacture a wide range of ignitions, generators/alternators,
starter motors and battery components.
Continental provided CAD designers to design the assembly lines, assembly fixtures and
quality control gauges. The assembly lines that were designed and built included run offs
in off-site facilities until they achieved complete run-at-rate capability.
Manufacturing engineers error-proofed assembly operations with Failure Mode Engineering
Analysis (FMEA) technology. Quality Engineers remediated scrap and quality issues with
Design of Experiments (DOE) technology.
Continental has designed Assembly Cells with the latest Lean
Manufacturing technology. Lean Manufacturing seminars served to eliminate MUDA (Japanese
word for "waste") from the manufacturing operations. Value Stream Mapping has
resulted in significant improvements in Work-in-Process (WIP), labor requirements, and
through-put, which combine to produce 20 to 50% [or greater] productivity Improvements.
Engineering Outsourcing Case Study:
Specialized Plastic Injection Molding Engineering
One of the largest plastic injection molding manufacturers in the world had very specialized
personnel needs. One division focused on a unique process: four-color injection molding
machines capable of molding Red, Amber, Clear (white) and Black polycarbonate plastic in
one operation. Molding engineers and molding technicians were provided for all three shifts
of a 24 x 7 manufacturing operation. Assembly of these special products involved Butyl
Adhesive bonding or Hot-Melt adhesive bonding processes for attachment of the sub-components
into a weatherproof final assembly.
Another special assembly process involved Sonic & Vibration Welding processes that
required specially designed horns for permanently fusing the plastic parts. Continental
was able to support these welding process needs with key manufacturing technical talent
on all three shifts as production volumes rose and declined for an optimum lean staffing
solution.
Engineering Outsourcing Case Study:
Space Age Plastics Manufacturing
This facility focused on Carbon-Fiber Thermoset plastic molding (Composite Materials),
as seen in Aerospace and Automotive Industries. The components that utilize these thermoset
plastic materials involve extremely sensitive molding processes. The molding process was
followed by a series of chemical washes, Base Coats, Vacuum Deposition Aluminizing, and
Top Coating, for protection in extremely harsh environments. Continental was able to help
resolve Quality problems and reduce scrap levels
throughout the high-tech manufacturing process with Molding Engineers, Quality Engineers
and Industrial Engineers who completed engineering evaluations to get at the root cause
of the quality situations. | 
Temporary spikes in demand for engineering resources — and the need to control project and/or salary costs — usually drive the need for engineering outsourcing. The Continental Engineering Center can address both by delivering your project on time and on budget.
