The Octex Group Introduces “Launchpad” For Faster Product Launches

This program enables customers to pick and choose every aspect, from start to finish, of a complete product-to-market launch. “Like a conductor of symphonies, Launchpad allows customers to effectively compose and control the entire launch process,” says Brett Wigton, chief scientist and director of corporate affairs for the Octex Group. “That means businesses can choose any or all services, mix and match, to bring your idea, design, and product, to life faster than ever before.”

As shown in the accompanying graphic, the usual launch process can easily take 45 weeks from the start of design validation through production tool build, tool qualification, and production process and validation development. With the new process, spearheaded by Omnia Scientific, that process can be collapsed to 30-35 weeks.

The difference, explains Octex Group president John Hoskins, is that the different phases of the launch process are typically handled by different groups with different cultures—resulting in “loss of fidelity,” as Hoskins puts it. “But we have all the pieces of the puzzle under our roof. So we can conduct different phases concurrently. Our goal is to compress the usual eight- to 12-week tool-build process into just three weeks. This is what OEMs have been begging for.”

Launchpad coordinates department heads in engineering, tooling, metrology, QA, production, and technology, to monitor in real time every aspect of the launch process. Software-defined project-tracking algorithms place metrics on all critical stage levels in every phase, allowing the team to proactively monitor and respond to all project scenarios.

With Launchpad, customers reportedly experience 75% faster tooling qualification, 75% faster pre-production process development, and 75% faster validation.

Octex has dedicated a white room in its newly refurbished plant as a Launch Center to demonstrate how Launchpad works. The Launch Center is being inaugurated with four Engel and KraussMaffei presses and four more are planned.