WASI Case Study: SEKISUI Aerospace
Point of Contact
Deborah Purce, dpurce@uw.edu
Description
This Washington Applied Sustainability Internship (WASI) project had two parts.
The prepreg scrap reduction project focused on understanding and minimizing waste generation throughout the manufacturing process. Prepreg materials are fibers that are preimpregnated with resins or epoxy. The prepreg is cured after it is formed onto a part. By tracking the journey of prepreg material from purchase to assembly, key areas of waste production were identified: kit cutting, layup, breakout, and trimming. This project had two phases: layup and ply optimization.
The layup phase was identified as the primary source of scrap waste in the manufacturing process, with 35.22 percent of material lost to scrap. The ply optimization project aimed to enhance production efficiency and reduce waste by redesigning prepreg kits for improved fit. This project targeted kits that were high-rate production parts or had long production times. The goal was to optimize the kits to better match the final parts’ shapes and minimize excess prepreg scrap trimmed from parts during lamination.
Optimizing the prepreg kit for one part resulted in a 29 percent part-weight reduction, in addition to a 31 percent material-length reduction during the kit cutting process. An optimized kit reduces the need for laminators to make additional cuts, which wastes both time and material.
The extremely hazardous waste (EHW) identification and reduction project aimed to address the environmental and cost implications of potentially hazardous dust generated from the fill and fare process. The project focused on communication with suppliers to determine the chemical composition of prepreg materials, including halogenated organic compounds (HOC), and explored exemptions from the EHW designation.
Challenges included proprietary information constraints and supplier communication difficulties. The project led to the creation of a hazard matrix that detailed supplier formulation information, lab results, and exemption qualifications. These efforts could reduce disposal costs up to $58,000 annually and redesignate nearly 16,000 pounds of dangerous waste.