New Area for ISF
All-State Industries (ASI) introduced a new production process for 2015, Polyurethane Integral Skin Foam. This material is used by many of our customers as soft touch trim for parts such as arm rests, back pads, etc. There are multiple parts used on stand-up fork lifts, so anyone who operates one will be familiar with them.
All-State was asked to manufacture four parts for a major forklift manufacturer for their stand-up forklift, as their previous supplier had gone out of business. An integral skin foam polyurethane system was developed with BASF polyurethanes based on the customer’s specification. The tools were shipped to BASF and ran on multiple occasions so the customer could continue to build vehicles while ASI installed the machinery for production.
There was not enough space in the current urethane building to install this machinery so an additional 10,000 sq. ft. was obtained.
A high-pressure dispensing machine was purchased to pour the material. The other ancillary items needed to run the machine (mold heater, chiller, etc.) were refurbished by the maintenance dept as these had been in storage at ASI. The maintenance team completed the installation of the machine in early February. BASF visited ASI to commission the machine and assist in making first article parts.
