Adaptability is Key to BERMAG's Success

BERMAG Industries, LLC (Hickman, KY) was working with a major auto manufacturer who was in a hurry. BERMAG's customer was designing a new high-performance car and needed an intake manifold--fast.

The customer needed four cast aluminum manifolds within a week to meet their project test schedule, and they didn't have the four weeks it would take to produce the manifolds by traditional sand cast processes.

"The customer has their own stereolithography equipment, and elected to produce the SLA internally," says BERMAG owner Jamie Madding. "The customer shipped the completed SLA by plane. We had one of our associates waiting at the airport when the plane arrived. He picked up the package and brought it to the plant on the same day, where a night crew was waiting, ready to start the tooling process."

The pattern for the complex part was completed within two days and was sent to the foundry area of the plant. Molds were made from the pattern and four days after receiving the SLA, BERMAG was holding the cast aluminum manifolds. Again, in order to save time, the manifolds were shipped to the customer by plane. The customer received the manifolds, and after machining the parts, they were assembled on the engine. The customer was able to test the vehicle just one week after the SLA was built. "At BERMAG," Madding says, "we're always ready and eager to adapt to each customer's requirements and needs in the ever-changing prototype world."