Viking Spas has been a leader in the consumer hot tub market since its founding in the early 1970s. With dozens of innovative models and an authorized dealer network that spans the United States and Canada, this third-generation, family-run company designs and manufactures its broad range of products at its factory in West Michigan. Whether you’re looking for rest and relaxation after a long day at work, some fun with friends and family, or the therapeutic benefits of hydrotherapy, Viking Spas has a variety of high-quality, yet affordable, options to meet your needs.
As a pioneer in the spa and hot tub industry, the company needs to continually introduce new products that match its consumers’ desires. However, Viking Spa’s legacy products were originally handcrafted by journeyman patternmakers; thus, there were no electronic files to reference and use for design updates. In an effort to not only modernize its processes, but also allow for greater visualization and flexibility for future models, Viking Spa hired a design firm to generate new 3D CAD data for use in new product development. After completing the engineering phase of an updated hot tub, the company determined they would also like to create a full-scale physical model in order to ensure that the style and features fit their vision. Viking turned to Tooling Tech Group (TTG) for help.
A longtime tooling partner to Viking Spa, the pattern shop at TTG used low density foam and one of its large format CNC machining centers to create an exact replica of the finished spa. Due to its size (10′ x 10′ x 4′), the team split the prototype into three pieces so the customer could easily step in and out of the concept model, which was important as they wanted to physically test the geometry and fit of the seats. The foam material provided the perfect balance of cost and durability, and was also readily available, allowing TTG to meet the customer needs quickly and cost-effectively.