Leprecon
For three decades, Leprecon has been providing lighting control, dimming and interfacing solutions for the performance industry. Leprecon manufactures a wide range of lighting products that illuminate not only touring and theatrical productions, but also corporate environments and houses of worship.
Leprecon’s lighting control consoles contain many control switches, and some of the switches have plastic caps on them. Over the years, the availability of these switch caps was inconsistent, forcing Leprecon to adjust its assembly processes to compensate.
Finally, the latest cap supplier closed its doors, and Leprecon decided to get their own caps injection molded. That’s when they came to ICOMold to help solve their cap problem. This solution would eliminate parts, save on labor, and produce a better fit.
ICOMold injection molded the plastic caps to Leprecon’s specifications, they had a better fit than the previous caps, and the project was a success.
Then, mysteriously, the caps developed a loose fit on some switch posts. Leprecon did some investigation on their end, and discovered that the manufacturer of the switches themselves had changed their post design over the years, so now there were switches made before a certain date in one size, and switches made after that date in a different size. The caps did not fit the new and old switches the same – the loose caps actually had to be glued onto the smaller switch post, which was not a good long-term solution.
Leprecon and ICOMold worked together to revise the tolerances on the part print, and a new cap was designed to accommodate both sizes of switch posts. The new custom design fit well on both the old and new design switch posts, plus it eliminated two extra shims. In addition to the plastic parts solving a functional problem, Leprecon was very pleased with the excellent finish on the parts.
ICOMold injection molded the plastic caps to Leprecon’s specifications. They had a better fit than the previous caps, and the project was a success.
“We are very pleased with ICO Mold. Response time is fantastic, customer support is great, and the online group project management tool is very helpful.”
– Connie Blevins, Leprecon
