"This is how we fight for space in the retail stores," explains Mike Freiberger, model shop supervisor at Evenflo, headquartered in Vandalia, Ohio. "If our samples look good and are presented well we could possibly steal a spot from one of the other vendors."

The Challenge: A local developer and manufacturer of baby equipment needed six functional sales samples for presentation to potential retailers. Quality and timing were critical because the amount of interest generated from the samples would determine if the product would go into production. The solution needed to be cost-effective and produce quality parts quickly.

The Solution: "We found there was no other feasible way to replicate the seat shells. SLA would have been too fragile and expensive, and the shells weren't machinable," says Mike. "Urethane molding was really the only way to go."

By utilizing Bastech's urethane molding capabilities, in less than three weeks Evenflo had six working models in-house for fit/function checks and assembly. The urethane seat shells were painted various color schemes, fitted with coordinating "soft goods" such as accessories and upholstery, and the final prototype seats took shape. The urethane shells mimicked the properties of the production material, so the sales samples looked and felt like the "real thing". "This made for some very realistic-looking samples that were shown to our customers," comments Mike.

About The Project: A SLA model was used to create a silicon mold. Several days were spent on preparing the surfaces of the model for molding. Because of the detail and complexity of the part, it took approximately five days to build the mold, which measured 29 inches by 22 inches by 19 inches. Once the mold was complete, it was capable of producing two to four parts per day, up to approximately 30 shots total.