Q: How can kitting reduce my lay-up costs?

A: The time your employees spend to walk around the clean room, find, measure, and cut vacuum bagging materials, can be saved if you purchase a custom “kit”. It can include all pre-cut and pre-seamed materials custom made for each specific part. It’s literally ready to use out of the box! In turn, time saved is money saved with reduced product cycle times.

Q: What if I have inexperienced lay-up room technicians?

A: Kitting removes many potential errors made by inexperienced workers since they will have everything needed, pre-cut to fit. No guesswork needed.

Q: Will this improve my material waste costs?

A: Yes! This is a major advantage to kitting... Significantly reduced waste means less to throw away. Also, it reduces manual cutting errors.

Q: Why can’t I cut for kitting in my own shop?

A: You can, but, our labor cost is much lower than yours and we use automation for cost efficiencies.

Q: What if I accidentally run out of kits… does production stop?

A: No, we always suggest keeping rolls of all materials in the shop for emergencies. You can always bag the “old way” if needed.

Q: What other advantages?

A:

• Reduce bill of materials
• Reduce operation motion
• Improve material delivery
• Supports “Lean” manufacturing process

Q: What can be in a kit?

A: Just about anything: custom vacuum bags, release film, breather, peel ply, sealant tape, roll of Flashbreaker® pressure sensitive tape, thermocouples, resin infusion connections, or anything the technician needs to bag the part.

Q: How will custom kits increase the quality?

A: Since all materials will be pre-cut to the shape of the part, you will have process repeatability, eliminating many potential errors.

Q: How do I get started?

A: Provide Airtech with a flat pattern or solid mold tool and part, along with information about the cure cycle and resin system. Our professional in-house engineering staff is equipped with the latest version of CATIA and can develop a vacuum bagging solution for you. Once it’s approved, we will get rolling!