Project summary
- Client: Cree Lighting International SPA
- Part description: Extrusion Housing, 152 x 64.5 x 44.5 mm, Aluminium LM25/TF
- Production method: Vacuum Additive Casting®
- Industry application: Lighting
Aluminium extrusions delivered in less than 4 weeks
Cree Lighting is a market-leading innovator of indoor and outdoor LED lighting across Europe, the Middle East and Asia. The business is uniquely positioned to design new ways of using LED lighting: using their knowledge and designs as a platform for emerging technologies that enrich lives, improve society, and safeguard the planet.
The Challenge
Cree Lighting required the manufacture of 12 extrusion housings for a bespoke light fitting they had in development. They needed a manufacturer that had the ability to cost effectively and quickly produce a high quality part in order to meet their own client’s deadline.
The Solution
Using the Enable Vacuum Additive Casting process, the team manufactured this specialised part in a very short timeframe. They delivered a stable product with fine tolerances including a 2mm wall thickness over a 152mm length, and the quality was like-for-like when compared with traditional manufacturing processes.
The Vacuum Additive Casting process is flexible and enables precise customisation of products. Whilst Cree required 12 exact copies, the team could have easily introduced even minor variations to each of the 12 pieces.
The Benefits
From receiving the final CAD drawings, it took less than one month to deliver twelve extrusion housings to the client in Italy. The investment for Cree was £155 per unit, a considerable saving on the cost of tooling for just 12 parts.
“I was very impressed with the professionalism and knowledge of the Enable team, who delivered a high quality product and helped us to successfully fulfil our client’s order within a very tight timeframe. The Enable vacuum additive casting process is a demonstrably efficient way to manufacture specialist parts for prototypes and bespoke fixtures.“
Nick Farraway, Cree Lighting
The demand for shorter product development cycles and increased customisation means that modern manufacturing technologies, such as Additive Casting, are delivering tangible benefits. Products may be brought to market faster, prototypes can be quickly adapted based on customer feedback, and, overall, everyone is enjoying a more efficient product development process.
At a glance
- Requirement for 12 off extrusion housing parts for a lighting manufacturer
- Manufactured in Aluminium LM25-TF
- Dimensions: 152 x 64.5 x 44.5mm Weight: 230g
- 0.3% tolerance
- £155 investment per unit
- Delivered to client less than 1 month after receiving finalised CAD drawings
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