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A major North American automotive supplier asked TriEnda to manufacture a reusable shipping container for the battery packs used to power battery electric vehicles (BEVs), one that would meet demanding UN criteria for shipment of dangerous goods. Constructed of ABS (Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene) and steel substructure for strength, the container must support robotic loading and unloading of the 37 compartmentalized trays within, each carrying 16 relatively soft, liquid-filled battery cells for a total of 592 per container.
Closed Case
The customer originally conceived that the battery trays be injection-molded. However, with a height tolerance of +/-0.013″ per tray and the fact that only a few injection mold machines in the entire country had sufficient tonnage for that size workpiece, TriEnda soon realized the battery trays would be extremely difficult to manufacture as specified. Instead, it was decided to use the thermoforming process, even though ABS plastic is much more difficult to thermoform than the HDPE used elsewhere in the container. Undeterred, TriEnda personnel built a prototype mold, tested the process, and after customer approval, turned to longtime supplier Tooling Tech Group (TTG) of Ft. Loramie, Ohio for the production tools.
TTG has worked with TriEnda and Penda for more than four decades, almost since the company’s founding. The Ohio facility specializes in thermoform tooling and has a long track record with KFI, due in part to an in-house foundry that it uses to create aluminum tools from—in this case—a customer-supplied pattern. After delivery and testing of the production tooling, TriEnda soon discovered a serious problem: the battery packs supplied by the OEM did not meet the original design specifications. This meant the tooling had to be reworked. TTG proved well-equipped to handle this request and turned the revised tools around within a few weeks, meeting the demanding delivery dates required in the automotive industry.
Many thousands of successful battery containers and tens of thousands of trays later, TriEnda management looks back at their accomplishments with pride. “It was probably the most challenging project we’ve ever worked on,” says a company spokesperson. “Between our ability to get ABS to thermoform within the very tight tolerance callouts, Tooling Tech’s quick response and excellent flexibility in the face of changing requirements, and other obstacles like the straight stack configuration we developed to safely and securely carry the pack’s heavy load—it was a big ask for everyone involved and quite an accomplishment overall. I’m very proud to have been part of it.”
Open Case
Founded in 1982, the Tooling Tech Group has grown organically, and through acquisition, to become the largest tooling provider in the United States with 650+ employees, 13 modern facilities and over 1 million square feet of manufacturing space across four states.
The depth and breadth of our capabilities is achieved through the combined experience of our company units, with each of these companies being in business for 30+ years, providing both extensive industry experience and financial stability that you can rely upon.
Our unique differentiator is the ability to provide all tooling services from design to engineering to simulation to machining to fabrication to try-out all within one company. This single source ability can help to streamline your business operations and simplify your life. As a vertically integrated company, we maintain tight control over quality and can provide custom services to meet your total program needs. We take full responsibility for quality, delivery, and cost management of each project starting at concept through “on time, every time” delivery.
Together, we have earned a reputation for manufacturing the highest quality tooling for casting, molding, forging and stamping. We also produce secondary automated solutions to transform parts into assemblies and functional products used around the world. We accomplish this by applying our expertise along with the latest technology, techniques, and CNC equipment to design, engineer, manufacture and test your tooling.
