TRW

How a simple Ford F150 factory visit and an old machine resulted in substantial cost and time savings.

While visiting the TRW factory that makes the headlight switch cover (this is the switch that gives you several headlight operation options, each of which is illuminated when selected) for the Ford F150, we observed a worker hand trimming each and every complicated part.

This part is quite deep and, therefore, difficult to make. It’s even more difficult to properly trim due to its multiple angles. On top of that, the plant needed to supply 50,000 of these covers every week!

Recognizing a need, we asked for the opportunity to solve this problem and did so with a custom laser trimming machine we had originally designed for a sleep apnea product. With a few modifications, the machine worked perfectly, completely eliminating the need for laborious hand trimming. This ensured their tight deadlines were met and saved everyone a lot in labor costs not to mention countless workers the pains associated with such repetitive handwork.