Owen Parkes, SERC Engineering Lecturer with Damien McGrane Founder of Takker examine the latest prototype which SERC have produced for the company
Prototyping services proves successful for local business
A
local manufacturing company, who won investment on the Irish Dragons Den, have joined forces with South Eastern Regional College (SERC) to further develop their product range.
Takker who are based at the Northern Ireland Science Park in Belfast, hope to grow their global market share by using the engineering expertise and facilities at the College in their NPD process.
Takker was keen to find a local company to work with in Northern Ireland as they aim to have the entire manufacturing process carried out locally.
The Challenge In the development stages of a new product,
Takker needed to carry out ʻproof of designʼ which gives designers an understanding of how the product will look and feel.
The Solution
Through using the latest CAD techniques SERC created 3D designs and also carried out testing on materials which will be used in the manufacturing process. The materials are subjected to a range of stresses to simulate the
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Damien McGrane Founder of Takker, said ʻWe were keen to use the College as we saw this as an opportunity to add value into the manufacturing industry, starting with using SERC for the prototyping services. These processes are crucial in product development, and the work carried out by SERC has been done to a high standard.ʼ
These services are provided through the facilities which SERC use in training and up
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strains and impact forces the product is likely to experience in use and application.
Before moving to volume production, SERC used Rapid Prototyping to produce a prototype of the new product. This is the first opportunity to see what the final product may look like and this process is vital in order to identify any areas of improvement in the design.
The Impact
The impact for Takker has been to allow them to explore new product design, while also continuing to support the local manufacturing industry through sourcing local suppliers who can provide Takker with world leading products.
skilling engineers. The capital involved in purchasing the equipment can mean that this is not an option for many start‑up companies.
Muriel Tafts, Head of Business Services in SERC explains, ʻSERC recognises that innovative business start‑ups and new product ideas are an important part of growing the local economy; this is why businesses can access these facilities and use them to prepare products to compete in global markets.ʼ
South Eastern Regional College works with a range of companies in order to provide cost effective solutions to business needs. This ranges from training and up skilling staff in various subjects including IT and Engineering. SERC have recently launched a new Online Learning Engine, which aims to provide businesses with a tool which can deliver training in a fast and cost effective way.
For more details on how SERC can help improve your business, please scan the code and visit
www.serc.ac.uk
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