Coastal Enterprises finds Opportunities amid Coronavirus Pandemic

Coastal Enterprises, Manufacturers of Precision Board HDU, was recently featured in the pages of Composites World, a leading magazine in the composites and tooling industry.  They talked to Chip Going, Sales Manager, and Tai Freligh, Marketing Manager, about how the company’s U.S.-integrated supply chain and custom services have helped them to overcome situational challenges for their customers.  Read some excerpts below and then head over to their website for the full article.

composites world

Here are some quotes from the article:

“The positive side of it is that through adversity, oftentimes, it’s the fuel we need to find a better way,” says Chip Going, sales manager for Coastal Enterprises. Going uses the word “nimble” to describe the company’s adaptability over the past few months. Coastal Enterprises’ relatively small size and private ownership, for example, have allowed it to quickly make high-level decisions, from adding new densities to its product lineup, to adding more custom bonding and cutting services, to slipping new, accelerated projects into the schedule. “Right now, things are changing so fast that for us to be able to react to people’s needs in real time is a huge advantage for us,” Going adds.

“You hear the word ‘pivot’ a lot,” adds Tai Freligh, marketing manager at Coastal Enterprises. “That’s another opportunity for us. I think people are discovering just how versatile Precision Board is.” For example, the company has seen several of its customers pivot their usual manufacturing capabilities to help alleviate shortages in personal protective equipment (PPE), or to build products to help with social distancing such as sanitized wall panels or partitions.

composites world

If you want to read the entire article, you can find it at the Composites World website HERE.  You can also check out our Composites World page here on the website for previous articles in the magazine over the past few years.

Coastal Enterprises is a 30-year old privately-owned company, located in California.  Our manufacturing producst and processes are fully integrated in the United States, which has allowed us to avoid supply chain disruptions and maintain unparalleled market stability. For thirty years we have manufactured Precision Board, a high-density urethane tooling board used in many different applications including composite tooling, prototyping, thermoform tooling, pattern making, theming, dimensional signage and more. It is currently being used in many essential industries including aerospace, defense, transportation, energy and healthcare. You can get pricingfree samplessign up for newsletters or contact us.

Using Precision Board PBHT to Make PPE

Did you know that our high-temp PBHT Precision Board Urethane is a fast and easy to use tooling substrate that is excellent for use when forming plastics parts used in medical devices, face shields and other critical PPE?  With 1 to 3 working day lead times on most standard size blocks, we can help you get your new tooling made in DAYS, not weeks.

Monster City Studios in Fresno, California, used our high-temp PBHT Precision Board to form a plastic face shield as part of a push to support hospitals and help alleviate the shortage of PPE (personal protective equipment).  They shared photos with us and their process in creating a face shield prototype using Precision Board HDU.

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UPDATE: Check out this story by the local Fresno, California ABC News station on their face shield efforts!

Monster City Studios forming plastic over the molds to make face shields / Courtesy ABC30 Action News Fresno.

From the Monster City Studios Instagram:

“Doing some prototyping after hours. Making a form for vacuum forming some hospital essential equipment. Let’s hope all goes well. We’ll see in the morning!”

Another update from their Instagram:

“Made some progress on this form today and started the next! Thanks again @coastalenterprises ! This needs just a touch of polishing before it is ready for the vacuum former.”

An update from their Facebook page:

“We now have PETG face shields with forehead protection in .030 and .060 thicknesses! Frame by PRUSA, cast by Monster City Studios.”

“We have vacuformed PETG face shields with forehead cover! Coastal Enterprises Company @healthdataengineering We can produce in quantity. Want info? info@monstercitystudios.com”

And just today (4/9/20), another update on the process on their Instagram:

“We are making face shields at MonsterCity Studios! These are vacuum formed with PETG on a mold made from @coastalenterprises 48lb precision board! First prototype came together quick. Now time to hone and speed up the process!”

Email us at hdu@precisionboard.com or contact our technical sales department at (800) 845-0745 to see how we can help and to answer any technical questions you might have about using Precision Board PBHT for forming plastic parts on PPE.  We’ll update this post with Monster City Studios progress, so check back to see how it turns out!