Dura-Shiloh is a global mobility systems supplier specializing in the design, engineering and manufacturing of automotive components from EV battery enclosures to passenger doors. The company is recognized by leading vehicle manufacturers as a preferred partner for systems including electrification, specialty metal systems, lightweight structural solutions, and driver control systems.

With a far-reaching company such as Dura-Shiloh, prototyping new designs in a quick and economical fashion is a top priority.

Andrew Pherson, a Tool Design Engineer at Dura-Shiloh told us of how outsourcing even simple prototype tooling could take up to 3 or 4 weeks. The delay of these parts had a negative effect on the ability to adapt and improve tooling fixtures to improve the efficiency of the line.

“Parts that used to take 3-4 weeks to send out, we can now cut and bend in-house in a day.”

The addition of the WAZER small waterjet to the arsenal of tools at Dura-Shiloh has had a measurable positive impact on replacement tooling timelines across the company. Andrew said “Parts that used to take 3-4 weeks to send out, we can now cut and bend in-house in a day. The reduced lead time also allowed us to reduce spare part inventory.” In addition, these parts would typically cost between $150-300, but by using the WAZER, these costs were drastically reduced to under $50. The increased efficiency of using the WAZER has also allowed them to rapid prototype changes to fixture parts or create new parts, decreasing lead times while increasing their overall efficiency.

“The machine just runs”, said Andrew, “Its simple interface provides a technology that is usually highly complicated or time consuming.”