Tapelicator, Inc.

Company: Tapelicator, Inc.
Location: Southampton, Pennsylvania
Product: One-handed direct taping system
Annual Sales: $0
Team Members: 18
Year Founded: 1993

Situation:

With the help of an industrial design firm, TapeLicator designed and created a working model of its patented product, the world's first direct taping system that can be used with one hand and utilizes refillable tape cartridges. The PENNTAP office that serves Southeastern Pennsylvania referred the company to the PTDC for an efficiency analysis of the system's plastic parts.

Project:

Working with the inventor, the PTDC created a solid model of the taping system to study its design. Design changes were made that eliminated the need for one of the two buttons originally used to manipulate the system; parts consolidation eliminated one spring and created manufacturing efficiencies. A StereoLithography model ensured the revised design was functional, and three working cast prototypes were created for demonstration at a trade show.

Result:

Mold building, molding, and assembly costs for the TapeLicator were reduced, which will permit the consumer product to be sold at the lowest possible price. Tens of millions of units are expected to be shipped the first year of production.

Company Comments from Isaac Mendelovich; Inventor, Founder, CEO:

"The PTDC delivered on everything they promised; I worked with them for over a year, and they were always on time and on budget. Many times I drove eight hours one way during the night to be in Erie rather than work with someone here in Philadelphia, because they are the best."