US Farathane is a Detroit-based manufacturer of plastic parts that specializes in large-tonnage products. The company primarily serves the automotive industry, providing their customers with the underbody, underhood, interior, and exterior components they need. With 19 sites globally – (13 in the U.S.A, 2 in Mexico, 4 in China) this global company is a strong player in their sector . Whether the part is decorative, functional, or structural, US Farathane works with their customers to optimize and refine their product vision. As Tim Maly, Director of Advanced Sales Engineering and New Product Development, put it, “If it’s plastic on a vehicle, we have the capability to make it.”
Soundbar Viewed in SpinFire Viewer frame, as used by US Farathane
The highly competitive nature of the plastics industry requires US Farathane to stay at the forefront of both innovation and quality. They specialize in large tonnage plastic and assembly models up to 4400-ton single-shot and 2500-ton dual-shot parts. With decades of experience in innovation, including implementing unattended robotic automation cells to enhance manufacturing and assembly processes, the company has the experience and ethos to exceed customer expectations.
When creating components with plastic molding, it is essential to consider the manufacturing process as early as possible in the product design. While customers become more and more protective of their products and strategies, US Farathane prides itself in working with them throughout the design process to help provide the best final product possible. Tim explains, “The earlier we can see the part in its environment, understand what its functional, structural needs are—or decorative—we can then help our customers make the design as efficiently as possible from the get-go.”
To support this process in a cost-effective manner, US Farathane needs as many of its expert team members as possible to be able to access and interact with the customers’ parts. With limited licenses of independent tools, this created a problematic bottleneck. To solve this, they chose SpinFire Enterprise. Tim best summarized the result, saying: “We are no longer losing efficiency while engineers wait their turn for pooled licenses to become available.”
Ultimately, Tech Soft was able to propose a multi-year Enterprise Licensing Agreement that met our global business framework for access across several departments, regions, and cost.
Tim Maly
Director of Advanced Sales Engineering and New Product Development
Reliable Functionality in a Proven Partnership
US Farathane leverages SpinFire Enterprise for their Advanced Engineering and Applications teams to assess customer part feasibility. Tim said, “SpinFire allows us to make early analysis of the part design & manufacturability, the environment in which it must fit & function, and initial concept proposals for improvement.”
Expanding on the capabilities of the product, he said, “SpinFire is vital for viewing the bill of materials in 3D and for Process Engineering & Costing to see the scope of content for accurate estimating and assembly capital needs, material volume, part maturation, risks, and cycle times.”
Soundbar Viewed in SpinFire Viewer frame, as used by US Farathane
US Farathane had licensed SpinFire for several years with separate agreements across departments and international locations before signing their current Global Enterprise deal. Tim and his team worked with Tech Soft 3D to bring these together, simplifying billing and expanding access across the company. Tim explained, “We were able to consolidate all these individual agreements and rates that varied between departments and regions into one agreement for a multi-year deal. This gave us the ability to always have access and get to what we feel was a very competitive rate that met the needs of our business framework while giving everybody access that would need it.”
Before deciding to consolidate their license, US Farathane rightfully explored the other options on the market but ultimately decided that SpinFire and Tech Soft 3D were the right fit for them. Tim summarized this decision process, saying, “We already had it, people were familiar with it, and it’s user-friendly. We wanted to stay with Tech Soft 3D.”
Tech Soft 3D is proud to offer products that support fantastic companies like US Farathane. By supporting their unique needs, we can help provide their customers with a better final product and overall buying experience. We look forward to many more years of working with US Farathane to come.
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Check out US Farathane’s website to learn more about their organization, explore our SpinFire solutions for more on our CAD viewing solutions, or get in touch with the Tech Soft 3D team.