These days, more and more companies are moving away from stock production and instead gravitating toward on-demand manufacturing. This comes from a need to improve the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of supply chains in an economy increasingly dominated by online retail. This shift is a stark contrast to the days when large quantities of a product used to be constructed on assembly lines and then kept in storage facilities for weeks or even months until they are ready to be shipped to a customer. Hot melt adhesive systems are a critical component of much on-demand manufacturing, but before we get into why, let’s dive a bit deeper into the benefits of on-demand manufacturing for product assembly operations.
- Ensures a speedy, responsive turnaround. Depending on the type of item, products can often be constructed on-site and shipped off to a store (or in some cases, a direct customer) on the same day an order is placed.
- Reduces overhead costs by saving on storage space. There’s no need to store large quantities of products for multiple weeks or months since everything is shipped soon after they come off the production line.
- Cuts down on product markdowns and waste. With on-demand manufacturing, you never need to produce more product than you need. That means you can reduce the amount of product you must discount or throw away.
The Role of Hot Melt Adhesive in On-Demand Manufacturing
With on-demand manufacturing, speed is the name of the game. Once an order is received, the goal is to build the item, package it, and ship it out within the same day. Having a hot melt adhesive system on your assembly line for constructing products makes this possible. Hot melt adhesive is simple and easy to apply to a variety of materials, and best of all, it cures incredibly fast (it’s dry to the touch within seconds). This represents a stark contrast to other methods for adhering products on an assembly line. For example, a water-based adhesive can take 24 hours or more to fully cure, which can really bog down the process and cause logistical storage headaches. After all, where are you going to store all this product while you wait for the water-based adhesive to cure?
Mattress manufacturers are one industry that relies on the speedy qualities of hot melt adhesive to fulfill on-demand production goals. Both traditional mattress companies and newer bed-in-a-box online mattress retailers benefit from hot melt adhesive’s ability to speed up production and fulfill orders quickly. Mattresses can be constructed and then loaded directly from production lines onto trucks that ship them out the same day the order was received.
Ready to streamline your company’s manufacturing process? A hot melt adhesive system is ideal for constructing products in an on-demand manufacturing setting. As an industry leader in hot melt adhesive application equipment, Sure Tack Systems’ hot melt glue systems are reliable, simple to operate, and easy to maintain. Contact us to learn more about how a hot melt adhesive system can improve the bottom line of your company’s manufacturing process.