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Which Check-Out Lane Do You Use?

You’ve just put the last item in your shopping cart and head to the check-out area of the grocery store. If you’re like me, you scan all your options for checking out and quickly access which option is best for you that day.

Which lane is fastest? Should I use the self check-out machines? Do I want the convenience of a cashier? Do I have a previous experience with that cashier? Is the cashier efficient and accurate?

In just a few seconds, the options are weighed, my decision is made, and I steer the cart for the lane I’ve chosen.

As a manufacturer, you have similar options on what is the best solution for assembling your product. Sometimes, it makes sense to assemble all the parts in house, like using the self check-out option. Maybe the parts are from several different suppliers or maybe you make all the parts in your plant.

Other times, it makes sense to have some of the parts assembled by a supplier, like the convenience of a cashier. Maybe the same supplier already has several of the parts. Shipping parts separately adds time and money … more shipping containers, more work for the receiving department, and more storage space required.

Think of Team 1 Plastics like an efficient, accurate cashier. Team 1 can coordinate with you to produce the assemblies you need. Led by Shelley Lewis, hired in 1990, Team 1’s Assembly Team focuses in on assemblies that have at least one of its own molded plastic parts. It works closely with you to purchase any additional components such as springs, pins, and inserts, or painted or electrical components.

It’s very difficult to expect someone to do something perfect 10,000 times a month, but the four assembly machines used by Team 1: Grease Machine, Knob Machine, Hot Plate Welding Machine, and Float Stalk Machine, have safeguards to detect operator errors. For example, an operator must insert a spring and attach felt to a plastic case for a product that Team 1 assembles. The tool used by the operator will detect whether the part has these items and will not allow the Grease Machine to cycle if either part is missing.

In addition, each of these machines ensures quality parts by incorporating error proofing (poke yokes) or laser and vision systems. These minimize quality defects like missing components and non-functioning assemblies. For example, parts sealed together by the Hot Plate Welding Machine undergo a Leak test to ensure that the seal is correct. The tool testing the part measures the seal for air and tests the PSI. The testing tool will mark the part if the seal passed the quality test.

It may not always make sense to choose Team 1 Plastics as your “check-out cashier” for light assemblies, but when you do, you can be assured you will have a good experience.