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The right machinery makes life easier and faster. We design Custom Machines to meet demanding business goals. An Automated Machine, or a Special Tool, Jig or Fixture can save time & money while improving consistency & quality.
A Custom Machine can take the pressure off production overloads and bottlenecks. If you want to improve precision, or seek a safer, faster process — then a custom machine or specially designed tool may be the answer.
The Right Custom Machine or Special Tools Can:
Every situation deserves a good look.
Custom machines are unique – designed and engineered for a specific purpose. They can be fully automated (robotics), or with some level of partial automation, or completely manual. Some machines support manufacturing and production, while others assist with testing, material handling, or specialized work in the field.
At Synthesis, we design and engineer custom machinery across this full spectrum. We can also build the machine, test it, and refine the functions to deliver a complete working solution.
Fixtures, jigs, and special tools are closely related. These are often more passive than what we might think of as a machine, but the distinction is not always clear. The right solution may be a simple fixture, a special tool, a custom machine - or perhaps an integrated combination. Good planning is the best way to make the decisions.
We let the customer's needs and desires drive the decisions – including choices about the level of complexity and automation that best fit the job.
A look back can say a lot. Here are a few examples showing where we have been with the design of Custom Machines, Manufacturing Fixtures, and Special Tools. Click the + icons under each image to read about each solution.
Rock & Roll Machine
The Challenge:
Replace an existing machine, and scale it up to meet new manufacturing volume needs. Also, address cooling, stiffness and reliability issues of the previous unit.
The Solution:
Like its predecessor, the new machine turns a mold as the whole machine rocks end to end. However, the new one is larger, stiffer, drives itself, and solves the cooling issues to achieve peak performance.
With the design from Synthesis, the customer built the machine. It now runs reliably with increases in both product quality and total output.
Durability and Intensity Testing
The Challenge:
Design and build a custom machine for accelerated testing to replicate rare failures from actual customers. It must also perform routine product durability testing.
The Solution:
A table-mounted machine with various controls for springs, dampers, speed and direction make this machine act and test in very different ways. It is amazingly violent when dialed up!
The new machine replicated the customer issues, (then we improved the product design too), and verified everything with this custom machine. Standard durability testing is ongoing (for many years) giving our customer continued confidence in product safety.
Fire Damper Testing
The Challenge:
Invent and build a latch mechanism for ventilation fire dampers that gives instant release to close the ducts when a fire is present, while also allowing inspectors to test and validate damper function.
The Solution:
A simple device (pictured) is serviceable from either side in the ducting, has easy installation and removal by using a special tool (not shown) that opens the damper for installation, inspection and testing. The tool is small enough and simple enough for the workmen to carry into the duct, but large enough and strong enough to assist with periodic testing requirements of the fire damper code.
Chainring CNC Fixture
The Challenge:
For small batches and prototypes, the customer needed a fixture for CNC machining to accommodate many sizes of chainrings. The fixture and process had to be cost-effective for short-run production (speed), yet flexible enough to prototype new designs.
The Solution:
We designed and built a 3-station CNC fixture with flexible machining options. 3 rings are in production at once so one is finished each time the door opens.
With amazing flexibility, the fixture has produced thousands of chainrings in many sizes, just slightly slower than dedicated production machines.
Industrial Lamination
The Challenge:
For one customer, his commercial lamination machines were burning out in only a few weeks. The alarming failure rate created staggering losses in production time, repair costs and replacements.
The Solution:
Borrowing concepts from another industry, Synthesis developed a custom machine to increase throughput with accurate control of heat, speed and pressure. The 3 custom machines originally designed and built lasted years (rather than weeks). Then some repair, and they are still in service.
Increases in production uptime more than paid for the custom machine builds in just a few months. Now, it's all extra profit.
Shooting Range Reset
The Challenge:
Build a simple, portable machine to survive the harsh environment of an outdoor shooting range, to reset targets after being shot. Oh, and it must be portable, at half the size and less weight than the competition. Yet, repeatedly take .30-06 energy (and under).
The Solution:
Taking solutions from several other industries, Synthesis developed an instrument that takes a beating over and over, in the harsh conditions, and continues to function. Challenges for electronics with impulse, fine shrapnel and other aspects of this extremely harsh environment were overcome through innovation in product development. (Image shows a portion of the internals only.)
Additional custom machine examples (with more detail) are in Engineering Case Studies in the library. For instance, there is a great example of engineering a mobile custom machine for improved Safety on the Ski Slopes. It is a cool addition to an existing tractor – a custom machine to enhance a standard machine.
Machines can make life simpler by making jobs easier. They help us do things we could not otherwise accomplish, or even want to do. Some machines are quite simple, while others are more complex. Jigs and Fixtures are also tools, though they can blur the line with similar benefits in saving time, improving quality, and making a job more pleasant.
Custom machines are a feature of Synthesis. This is a unique part of Product Development. Whether by simple hand operation, or full automation – or a fixture, a jig, or custom tool – we design (and build) them. We have made micro machines, and XL. Check the Big Slide Show for many examples. If this is something you need, please connect. We design and build for unique applications – large and small, manual and automated.
Every customer and application is unique, so the right solution begins with understanding the desired benefit. Custom equipment is an investment, yet the right application can return significant gains in efficiency, throughput, and quality. Is it right for you? Talk with us to explore the possibilities.
Custom Machines are an investment for the long game. Time and again, we help companies improve profits, by increasing throughput or improving efficiency, or avoiding costly medical bills.
If you are reading this, then you already know where your benefits can come. Custom tools are not always right, so we'll help you think through it. Waiting also has a cost, however, so look ahead and plan for success.
Below are a few more examples of projects we have worked on. Large and small. (Far too many to show them all.) Of course, your needs are different, which is why we design each machine custom. Bring us your ideas, then together we can discuss what is feasible. Maybe we can work a little innovative magic to build an excellent machine for you.
Automation with a custom machine can be a fantastic advancement in manufacturing. Machines of all types offer many great benefits in efficiency, accuracy, and safety.
Yet sometimes full automation is not what a situation needs. In many cases, special tooling or partial automation can give most of the benefit at a much lower cost. The trade-offs are endless with machines, fixtures and special tools, so give us a call. We are happy to talk through your situation, then make recommendations.
The above examples may or may not look like your situation. They are a diverse sample of what we do. It is something we have done a lot, and we are willing to do it for you too.