Bassler/Williamsport Pattern Works employs an ever-changing mix of 3D product designers, graphic artists, master patternmakers and modelers. The company creates CAD designs, molds, patterns and functional parts for a variety of products, from playground equipment to in-store displays, scale models to trade show promotions and everything in-between.
During the ’80s and ’90s, technology began to change and Bassler customers demanded a greater breadth of services, namely industrial pattern-making for metal foundries and plastic injection molding. Additionally, customers began requesting rapid prototyping services, shaving days or weeks off design implementation timelines.
Bassler began offering rapid prototyping to customers in 1994. In addition to using industrial-sized routers for fabricating prototype models and parts, Louis M. Bassler, founder and chief executive officer sought a less heavy-duty solution with a quicker turn-around time. Bassler considered several new technologies before deciding to purchase a Dimension 3D Printer in May 2009. Since then, the printer is often running 24/7, saving time and money for Bassler and his customers.
Bassler purchased the 3D printer from Cimquest, a longtime Dimension reseller and provider of engineering and rapid manufacturing products for business and industry. Tom Farnan, the territory account manager with Cimquest, recalled Bassler’s initial reluctance to revisit 3D printing technology after a less-than-positive experience.
“One of the reasons why Lou and his team have been so successful is because they are not shy about embracing new technology,” Farnan said. “But after he purchased a very expensive, early-edition piece of 3D printing technology in the 1990s, he felt like he got burned when the company went out of business and he couldn’t get parts or consumables. It definitely took some convincing to get Lou to look at the Dimension 3D Printer when we first met in 2009.”
Farnan and Bassler eventually came to an understanding. Bassler knew the company’s customers were outsourcing hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of additive manufacturing work each year, and he wanted a dependable solution in place.
“Our roots are planted in hand-built, traditional methods of modeling and creating mockups for industry,” Bassler said. “But we needed a new solution that combined our design talents with an inexpensive, yet durable output medium such as FDM. The 3D printer gave us an opportunity to produce very exact models, with the added benefit of being able to sand and finish those models to our customers’ specifications.”
One of the first projects Bassler completed using the 3D printer was a tabletop holder for e-readers, such as the Amazon Kindle. Bassler and his team analyzed the holder using a popular computer aided design (CAD) program. The client had redesigned and analyzed the holder using the same CAD program, but Bassler convinced him to try out an FDM model.
“He was so impressed that he could now fully use his sanded and painted model that he took that first piece and used it for advertising photography instead of the actual finished product,” Bassler said. “This product was a brand-new, niche idea from our client – an invention of sorts – and we love inventions because they love rapid prototyping. The 3D printer makes it much faster for us to delight our clients by giving them a physical model of their product before we make a pattern or a mold.”
Another example involved the company’s work for longtime client Shop-Vac. The wet/dry vacuum manufacturer has been working with Bassler for more than 30 years. Today, Bassler can make a functioning part for any Shop-Vac product in a fraction of the time it might take to send the specifications to a service bureau.
“Since we got the Dimension 3D Printer, we have saved Shop-Vac tens of thousands in tooling costs because they can make a part with us before they go to tooling. They don’t have to re-cut their tools if there are slight design changes during the process.”
The Dimension 3D Printer has changed the very definition of Bassler’s work—what began as a pattern- and mold-making shop has transformed into a full-service design firm.
“I always say we are not a service bureau, we’re a pattern shop,” Bassler said. “But the more our clients hear about how fast we can turn around parts, with such accuracy and reliability, it’s changing our business entirely…for the better.”
Dimension 3D Printers
www.dimensionprinting.com
