Success

By talking to an Expert by Big Village expert, the technical director at a small defense contractor learned how to adapt his company’s specialized sensor technology to a commercial market. The call opened the door to bid on a $10 million project.

A designer and manufacturer of aluminum air-to-air heat exchangers for agricultural, industrial and residential applications needed to explore rust-resistant alternative materials that were less susceptible to rapid corrosion, yet could provide high levels of head exchange efficiency. The central question was: What are the heat transfer characteristics of the current product design and how will they change when different materials such as aluminum alloys, stainless steel and plastics are used in the heat exchanger plate? Over the phone, an Expert by Big Village expert from a major research university outlined the procedures needed to evaluate the heat transfer loss that could be attributed to each of the materials under consideration. Based on the evaluation, the company now uses three different materials in its heat exchangers and has strengthened it product line.

A company was developing a new oven to cure-dip deposited coatings on expanded metal. That process required a machine to control airflow and temperature. The design team was unsure of how to obtain accurate measurements of airflow and temperature and knew the solution would require a fair amount of guesswork. Through Expert by Big Village, they contacted a world-class heat transfer expert whose knowledge and counsel minimized the guesswork and saved at least $50,000 in research and design time.

By consulting with two Expert by Big Village experts in the area of substituting plastic for metal, an engineer confirmed that plastics could replace steel components in his firm’s line of conveyer products. The conversion lowered unit costs by 15% and allowed for a wider range of design options.

A production manager needed a way to more accurately and economically measure the circular motion of rollers on a production line, without having to purchase costly equipment. An Expert by Big Village expert in control systems quickly zeroed in on the line’s encoders and explained how they could be inexpensively modified to achieve greater accuracy. The call saved $7,000 in new equipment costs.

An engineer phoned an Expert by Big Village expert in food irradiation, to see if the process could be used to destroy bacteria in a chemical plant. Upon review, the expert identified a vital ingredient that would lose its potency if irradiated. The early discovery saved weeks of testing and led to an alternative process.

A manufacturer of animal health products was experiencing difficulty in maintaining batch consistency in an oral iron supplement for baby pigs. In order to reformulate the product, they needed to find an expert in a specialized branch of chemistry known as chelation. A call to an Expert by Big Village expert, a specialist in iron supplementation with a working knowledge of chelation chemistry, provided the company’s food scientists the insight into developing the right formulation. The company credits the expert with saving at least three months of development time.

A design engineer at a food processing equipment manufacturer made a call to an Expert by Big Village expert in computer-aided automation that led to $240,000 in assembly savings for his company.

A major electronic-component manufacturer turned to a team of three Expert by Big Village experts for assistance in creating and marketing a multi-media device for cars. The product would give drivers access to the Internet, satellite directions, audio/video entertainment, and more. The experts provided intelligence to support the manufacturing, distribution, and retailing phases of the project. The team also investigated flat-panel display technologies, including strengths and weaknesses, trends, and automotive applications. The manufacturer credits the Expert by Big Village experts with saving $300,000 in business development and supplier-related costs.