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"Having Insyte Consulting assigned to this project was vital to meeting our timeline. Insyte Consulting provided the needed dedicated resource that was not available in-house, and added a high energy level that energized the team of support groups. In addition, the attention to detail that Insyte Consulting resource provided allowed us to do things right the first time and led to improvements in the equipment design and function. Overall, having Insyte Consulting on the job was the right answer."

Randy Leising, Director Research & Development & Implementation

A member of WGT's R&D Build team works at one of the pieces of equipment in the new R&D lab.

Firm Benefits

Costs were held in line so that total capital expenditure for equipment was 97% of the budgeted expenditure request for all equipment defined in the original proposal.
All equipment was received in house 32 weeks from the kickoff of the project between WGT and Insyte Consulting.
Relieved the burden of planning and coordinating this project from internal resources and allowed them to concentrate on daily operational issues.
R&D personnel now have the ability to build and test new prototype designs on qualified equipment that is not shared with manufacturing

Wilson Greatbatch Technologies, Inc. (WGT) is a leading developer and manufacturer of power sources, wet tantalum capacitors and precision-engineered components and sub-assemblies used in implantable medical devices, as well as for demanding commercial applications. A staff of 860 is currently employed in the company’s Clarence, NY location.

Situation

WGT has undertaken a facility expansion that entails the development of a new Research and Development (R&D) laboratory space. It is the company’s intent to utilize this space to perform R&D test builds of different battery designs. Currently, R&D personnel use production equipment in the assembly of these designs. Sharing this equipment hampers the effectiveness of both the R&D build group and the manufacturing group.

In addition, WGT has limited personnel to use as a resource to facilitate the development of lab equipment specifications and the supervision of the build, installation, and qualification of the completed equipment in a timely manner and within budget constraints.

Solution

WGT contacted the Western New York Technology Development Center (Insyte Consulting) to manage the development, build, installation and qualification of six duplicate production pieces of equipment, as well as a new bead blast cleaning system, to be located in the new R&D facility.

A team consisting of a cross-section of WGT staff and headed by Insyte Consulting was established. Their mission was the successful planning, coordination and implementation of this project while working under imposed time and budgetary constraints. With the mission and goals established the team undertook the following tasks:

Located and checked accuracy of drawings for existing equipment. Worked with WGT personnel to make necessary changes and improvements.
Wrote procurement specifications for six pieces of equipment to be purchased, built and installed in the lab.
Wrote Request for Quotes and solicited bids to meet or exceed defined specifications.
Reviewed submitted bids and selected suppliers to build equipment.
Tracked and managed the manufacture of this equipment though phone calls, visits and Gantt charts.
Actively interacted between WGT and selected vendors to mediate any issues inhibiting the progress towards equipment fabrication, installation and integration.
Coordinated the delivery and installation of all equipment.
Scheduled the qualification process to enable this equipment to be utilized.
Wrote initial operating instructions for all pieces of equipment.
Organized all pertinent information into single location.

In addition to the equipment, the fixtures and tooling that were necessary in the qualification of the machines had to be coordinated through WGT’s internal machine shop. The steps necessary in this phase consisted of:

Investigating what tooling is utilized for specific models to be produced on the equipment.
Gathering and reviewing necessary drawings.
Completing necessary shop requests.
Purchasing associated supplies as needed.
Managing the completion and tracking of 32 fixtures utilizing internal WGT systems.

The successful completion of this project was obtained by 1) Insyte Consulting’s facilitation of weekly team meetings that focused the attention on the details of each project and enhancing communication. 2) Utilizing Insyte Consulting as a single point contact with the equipment suppliers. 3) The ability to involve other WGT members into the team as required and 4) Insyte Consulting’s understanding of the manufacturing processes and procedures utilized at WGT.

Click here for a pdf version of this success story.