There are at least five reasons why you should not trust the One-Shot® Method, the revolutionary method patented by SAPA that to date is the world’s fastest method to produce car parts. But if you are a car maker or an engineer dreaming of doubling your productivity without losing high quality standards maybe you should take two minutes to read this article.
You get to the office and the first thing you think about is that it is Thursday and if it is Thursday, you only have two working days left before it’s the weekend.
You greet your colleagues with little enthusiasm: always the same faces, always the same things to say, small talk just to fill the silence.
You know that a very hard day lies ahead of you, you look outside and you think that at least it’s stopped raining and maybe tonight you’ll play five a side. You sit down and you can’t waste any more time.
You have been working on this part for months now, the design phase was long because of the many – too many changes that you were asked to make: nowadays for a part to be lightweight is as important as its quality and parts must be lightweight to be competitive and to be fast.
You can admit that you even dream about this project at night: it’s a real nightmare.
Delays are not admitted, and you were late right from the start. Your suppliers then make this chain even longer: the scenario you are faced with shows you downtime, deliveries taking place after the agreed deadline and a constant terrible mood for you and your boss obviously.
You don’t like to look bad in front of your boss nor in front of the clients but building a car is such a long, costly project that requires so many people working on it that you feel like there’s not much you can do to avoid all this.
You know the work method well and you know that in the end it’ll work, it always does.
You have heard about the One-Shot® Method, a system patented by SAPA that produces car parts with
- Shorter time;
- Less weight
- Less waste
- High quality level
Hence saving a significant amount of money.
The principle that the Method rests on is optimising the production phases: the objective is to reduce the number of phases to obtain a part that has all the required characteristics in less time and with less waste.
How is this possible?
By using highly innovative and technical tools that can reduce the number of phases to the bare minimum, in many instances to just one step.
For this reason, it is called “One-Shot”
Of course, if all this were true, this would be terribly convenient for you and for your car maker, you know this very well. Yet, there are some aspects that you are not sure about.
1.Since it is a NEW method, why should I trust it?
Many years of experience led you to have more trust in the process you know.
The One-Shot® Method is something innovative, it’s true. But it is no experiment.
It is a patented method and it is already industrialised on many parts: many car makers, like Volkswagen, FCA, Jeep and Alfa Romeo are trusting SAPA to apply the One-Shot® Method to their parts, clearly only the moulded ones.
Certainly, the One-Shot® Method addresses the more curious engineers that are looking for valid alternatives that can help them solve the most intricate issues with their work.
Engineers that look to the future and who, for example, would like to solve the issue of downtime once and for all.
Engineers that dream of endless productivity for their parts.
Engineers that want to look good with their bosses (and colleagues).
Mainly for one reason: the One-Shot® Method is not an alternative to the traditional method you know. In a way, it is its evolution.
all the engineers that worked to create this method know about and can apply the traditional method, and for this reason they worked to overcome it.
If you still don’t trust it, there are several awards that prove the results of this method: Best Supplier of the year for FCA, TPO Innovation Award, in Detroit and many more.
2.I have already seen similar solutions being applied: why is this defined as being unique?
The idea of optimising the production line is not unheard of.
Maybe you have read an article about it or watched a video, and other producers in the world are going down this way.
The implementation, however, (and hence the results) are not at the same level as the One-Shot® Method.
We call “One-Shot” a process that uses fewer production phases than the standard process. Even if only one phase could be optimised, we can still define the process as One-Shot®.
In most cases, however, SAPA’s engineers were able to reduce the number of phases to just one. This is the true revolution that led SAPA to patent the Method.
Just one phase means:
- Faster production, and therefore endless productivity.
- Less scraps, therefore higher environmental friendliness.
- Automated process and therefore reduced risk of human error.
- Fewer costs and the possibility to free up part of your budget to invest elsewhere.
3. What does it mean that it is patented?
In the literal meaning.
There is patent number that applies to this technology. (Write to us and we’ll give you the number).
Clearly, it is the method that was patented, not the parts produced thanks to this method.
This is because the products are just like the ones produced with the traditional method. The difference lies in the method used, whereby the One-Shot® Method will make you save time, it will reduce the weight of the parts ad it will reduce waste.
And there is another difference, too: SAPA’s internal Innovation Engineering department has been working on using new bio composite materials to create its parts.
So, besides offering the benefit of using more lightweight and resistant materials, SAPA also invests on the sustainability of its moulded parts.
Would you like to find out what it is about? Please read on.
4.Is it only applied to the parts that are already industrialised?
So, you admit that this method seems to bring some advantages.
The problem is that in this moment you are working on another car part and the parts created with the One-Shot® Method so far are not what you need.
In reality, this aspect is not important and as we were saying earlier: One-Shot® is a method, non a product. This means that it can be applied to any part that you are currently working on or that you may be working on in the future,
SAPA specialises in advanced polymer moulding, hence the part must have just this fundamental characteristic.
Another positive consequence of all this is that the One-Shot® Method is exportable. Whether you want to produce in Guatemala, China or Germany, it will always have the same costs and the same advantages.
5. Since it is a production method, why are you talking to me about it so early on?
I don’t need it right now…
The work of an engineer can be very varied.
In this moment, you may be working on a part not made of plastic or it may be that you are still a long way from choosing the supplier that will produce the part: you may be just only be working on the numbers to begin designing the part you need!
The early stages of a collaboration, i.e. the planning is very important to SAPA
Working together right from the planning stage is fundamental to co-design the product in a way that is functional to the application of the One-Shot® Method, but also so that the design is custom-made for the car maker.
Needless to say, the Window Frame that was designed for the Volkswagen Arteon (and already produced with the One-Shot® Method) is not going to be the same as the one of another Volkswagen car or FCA or Opel and so on.
This is why we talk to you early on.
Because it is a delicate and demanding process, SAPA will work with you at designing the part step by step.
What happens concretely if I choose the One-Shot® method to create my parts?
In theory, it seems advantageous. But what will ACTUALLY happen to your daily work?
Here is a short summary:
- IT IS PATENTED AS THE WORLD’S FASTEST METHOD TO PRODUCE CAR PARTS: this will maximise production and you will no longer have downtime
- MORE LIGHTWEIGHT PARTS: no more sleepless nights worrying about meeting the Horizon 2020 standards, you can dedicate the time you gain (yes, you will gain time) to new projects.
- PRODUCTION TAKES PLACE IN JUST ONE PRODUCTION AREA, WITH ONE SINGLE MOULD: this will make you save time and reduce waste significantly
- YOU’LL STILL HAVE HIGH QUALITY STANDARDS: you will able to guarantee a groundbreaking product that your customers love
- IT CAN BE APPLIED TO ANY TYPE OF PART: this will certainly impress your boss and it also means that you will no longer have to search far and wide for new solutions
- IT IS EXPORTABLE TO ANY PLANT AND DOES NOT NEED BEING ADJUSTED: your production line will stay the true to itself and your parts will still have the quality standards that your customers require.
- HIGH DEGREE OF TECHNOLOGICAL AUTOMATION: you can reduce the human error margin (distraction, tiredness) and you will deliver on time while also keeping up to date with the sector innovations.
To all these positive consequences you will still need to add another important aspect.
SAPA’s commitment to research focuses in particular on new recyclable and bio composite materials.
In particular, through the LIFE BIOBCOMPO project, carried out together with FCA, SOPHIA and CRF and with the support of the European Union, SAPA aims at developing low thermoplastic density materials, at using mineral fibres and in this way at reducing CO2 emissions by 8% by June 2021.
It may be small, but the One-Shot® method is certainly a revolution.
Choosing to apply it and change your way of working – the one you know well, the one that gives you a sense of safety, the one that annoys you and makes you waste a lot of time – is also a big revolution.
It is a risk (with many advantages, as you have seen) that can make the difference on many aspects that have an impact on your daily life.
Kind regards
Giovanni Affinita,
General Manager and Member of SAPA’s Board of Directors
If you would like to start planning your part with the One-Shot® Method, or if you want to discover the advantages you’ll get, fill in the form below.
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