Titleist Selects ThermoFab for Golf Swing Monitor Housing

Shirley, MA (PRWEB) May 18, 2007 -- ThermoFab, a Shirley, MA-based company that manufactures high quality plastic enclosures for the medical, industrial and computer industries today announced the production of a product for Titleist. Titleist selected ThermoFab for the tooling and manufacturing of the housing for The Titleist Performance Launch Monitor, a diagnostic tool, which measures a golfer's swing using laser optics.

The Titleist Performance Launch Monitor is a featured attraction of the Cobra Tech Van and Titleist sponsored fitting events at golf tours across the USA. The project presented a variety of design and manufacturing challenges as the monitor needed to withstand rough handling, rain, and temperatures encountered during autumns in New England as well as summers in Arizona--inside of parked vehicles.

Method, material and experience combine to meet narrow requirements
Due to the low initial volume of the monitor housing, and high tooling costs of injection molding, casting was originally selected as the most cost-effective production method. The cast material selected was a urethane, but it proved unable to withstand the rigors of cross-country touring, prompting Acushnet Company, owner of the Titleist and Cobra brands, to contract with Carroll Design, Inc., Lowell, MA for alternatives.

"The biggest challenge that the Titleist housing presented was arriving at a cost effective solution at small initial volumes," said Steve Johnson, president of Carroll Design. " I approached ThermoFab with these requirements as I was aware of their reputation for experience with a variety of materials that could solve the problems with Titleist's high-profile project - and wasn't disappointed."

Carroll Design approached ThermoFab with a request to use ThermoFab's unique thermoforming process to achieve a finished appearance comparable to that of injection-molded products without paying high tooling costs. Pressure forming produces parts with a typical time-to-market of four to five weeks, versus about 20 weeks for injection molding.

"Consumers expect top of the line design and quality when they see the Titleist brand, I knew that we could give this project the packaging detail that it required, without compromising on durability," said Michael Wahl, Principal, ThermoFab. "We enjoyed the challenge of this project."

ThermoFab pressure forms nine enclosure parts, the largest three of which are bonded with adhesive to create the rear housing, which measures 24 1/4 in. wide  12 3/8 in. high  16 in. deep (616 mm x 314 mm x 406 mm). Also pressure formed are front bezels, a display enclosure and rear drawer. The 2-in (51 mm) undercuts for handles on either side of the rear housing were especially challenging to mold, requiring action in the tooling to allow removal of the part. ThermoFab created the tooling in-house and painted the parts in shades of silver and black that matches a Titleist golf club.    

ThermoFab is currently celebrating the company's 30th anniversary. To learn more about ThermoFab, please visit www.thermofab.com. Headquartered in Shirley, MA, the company designs, develops and delivers custom plastic enclosure prototypes and products. Using a proprietary pressure forming process, injection-molded detail can be achieved with better turn-around and quality, providing ThermoFab customers with a competitive edge in today's high-speed marketplace.

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