We have worked with many companies both large and small helping to solve

problems for a wide range of products and technologies. A sample of clients

and the type of areas we have worked in are listed below.

• Acco Europe - Office equipment

• Autoglass - Automotive

• Black & Decker - DIY

• BMG Labtech - Laboratory instruments

• Carter Bench - Toy Consultancy

• Fisher Price - Toys

• Francotyp Postalia - Postal equipment

• Future Generations - Reducing climate change

• Grant Scientific - Laboratory instruments

• Karcher -  Power washers

• Precision Lighting - Designer Lighting

• Sagentia - Technology Consultancy

• Techne - Laboratory instruments

• TTP Labtech - Automated laboratory equipment

• Unilever - Fragrance Technology

Case study 1 - A study in materials

A client asked Black Carbon to investigate problems associated with a machine designed to produce long tape with metal pins inserted at 20mm intervals. The pins required cutting to length during the process and the blades to carry out this operation repeatedly failed, the client had been advised by the blade material manufacturer and supplier that the material was correct. Black Carbon investigated the failure mode by studying cause and effect and material structures, which resulted in our recommending a new blade material.

This recommendation led to a significant reduction in blade failure, blade life rose from an average of 150 thousand cuts to in excess of 2 million cuts leading to a substantial increase in productivity and profits.

Case Study 2 - Testing and engineering forensics

A world leader in the manufacture of power tools had devised a method of life testing its products. In replicating a test rig for the purpose of testing a new product it was noticed that this product and older products never actually reached the end of their life tests without requiring a change of electrical brushes. On questioning this observation the company admitted the occurrence suggesting the failure was due to unavoidable wear of the brushes caused by natural vibration and had assumed that the brushes twisted within the brush box, which eventually caused them to disintegrate. Further investigation by one of Black Carbons employees revealed that the problem was in fact caused by heat generated by the very extreme test conditions; this led to the metal brush boxes loosening from their mountings, as a result the brushes twisted beyond design limits resulting in premature failure.

This investigation led to a major design change enabling all future products to pass their life tests without the requirement to change brushes halfway through as a result the company now produces more reliable products, which improves reputation and reduces the risk of returns.

Case study 3 - High pressure trouble shooting

A manufacturer developing a low cost office product had already reached the tooling phase for production. The product had been designed with 2 motors to drive 3 functions; however it became apparent that the motor expected to drive 2 of the 3 functions was not fit for purpose; it therefore became necessary to incorporate a third motor within what was now a predefined and largely filled design space. An employee of Black Carbon joined a team of people and worked on finding the space to fit the motor  ensuring it both functioned correctly and met strictly imposed noise specifications, he also helped the team to debug the remaining issues through a regime of assessment, prototyping solutions, testing and feeding results back in to the design frame.

Problems during the build up to production creates stress in any project team; however by recognising deficiency and providing a team with the right experience it is possible to achieve a positive outcome. In this case it was achieved by re-igniting self belief, this and  a special effort between the manufacturer and design team resulted in a successful product launch.

Case study 4 - Saving money right "Out of the box"

A company known for delivering glass product anywhere any time has stock from centrally located warehouses delivered to local branches throughout Europe. On average 30 million euros of glass a year is damaged in transit. The company had already decided to design a new crate for delivering stock and Black Carbon was invited to investigate why glass might be damaged during shipping. We travelled around all of the European distribution centres and a few local branches in each country, building up an understanding of the cultural and topological differences that might form part of the overall problem, within 4 weeks we had sufficient understanding to be able to advise of a better method of restraining the glass in transit.

An immediate saving of 3 million euros was projected within the first 3 months of final implementation.