CFS chair foam components meet deadline for an important client

A furniture company met a big deadline with CFS.

When faced with challenging projects, manufacturers often rely on quick turnaround. Custom Foam Systems Ltd. (CFS) knows this, and it has saved the day for many customers facing tight deadlines. For example, a respected producer of institutional furniture was preparing a new line of healthcare chairs for a major trade show, but needed chair foam components in a hurry after its regular supplier dropped the ball. CFS stepped in to handle this emergency.

Preserving unique design features

Each chair had a 30-by-30-inch black integral skin part with an over-moulded metal substructure, which created a durable armrest support. The furniture company had a relationship with an offshore supplier of off-the-shelf components, but the supplier struggled with high scrap rates. It could not overcome current manufacturing problems and missed deadlines.

The company still did not have the chair foam components it needed as the trade show loomed. It needed a new partner with expertise in integral skin components, one that could work quickly and cost-effectively. Who better than CFS?

The CFS team faced the challenge of preserving the unique features of the chair design and maintaining the structural integrity without changing the outer shape. This project would consist of re-engineering the inner frame to solve the moulding problems while complying with exacting strength and aesthetic specifications. The company had to create new mould and frame fixtures and make enough foam for the show – in less than six weeks.

The CFS advanced technical team met with the client to review project goals and then analyzed CAD data, part samples, and the chair assembly’s key attachment points. CFS engaged key supply-chain partners for metal fabrication and tooling to learn from their expertise. Among the redesign elements that CFS needed to address were establishing a metal substructure part design that it could manufacture predictably and within tolerance and developing tools that pushed the boundaries of the reaction injection moulding because of the component’s size and complexity.

These chair foam components met output and scrap metrics while meeting the customer deadline – and the trade-show exhibition was a big success.

To learn more, contact CFS.

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