Joaquin Prendes brainstormed a new product to develop. But he discovered that it was extremely hard to find the right company to help him produce and manufacture it. If he was having this problem, he was certain other entrepreneurs faced the same fate. This experience convinced him to start Blue Ring Technologies in South Florida.
Photo Caption 1: Photo Caption: Joaquin Prendes, president of Blue Ring Technologies, at the Blue Ring manufacturing facility in Davie, Florida.
Today, Joaquin and his team resolve the product development needs of entrepreneurs and small-to-medium size businesses. Blue Ring flushes out product ideas to get them to a point where they are manufactured efficiently using a variety of technology, such as 3D printing/ rapid prototyping, cutting edge engineering, cost effective tooling, and plastic injection molding.
“Since our founding, we have assisted many companies and entrepreneurs in bringing their dreams to life. It is truly satisfying for us to take a product that is sketched on a napkin and transform it into a shippable product,” stated Joaquin.
“Many of these entrepreneurs may have never manufactured a product before, therefore, we devote a lot of time towards developing the best manufacturing process to produce it. They appreciate the extra attention we give them, in comparison to what they would get from a traditional molder. Because color is a critical factor in getting new products noticed by buyers, we also spend extra time reviewing their color options to match them to the resins being used.”
Blue Ring Technologies has worked with or been in contact with most major plastic color manufacturers over the years. They believe that each company has pluses and minuses. The sole company that gives them peace of mind and impresses them the most is Chroma Color Corporation.
Why?
Chroma Color provides them with a high level of service from everyone in the company— including sales, shipping, and color lab departments, even though they are a smaller molder.
This extra effort from the Chroma Color team has given Blue Ring the ability to provide great solutions for two of their customers. One such customer is swvls and the other customer is Aspire Products, LLC.
The SWVLS Color Story:
Photo Caption 2: swvls being manufactured and packaged for shipping at the Blue Ring facility.
The SWVLS company manufactures a unique toy that includes two powerful neodymium magnets that alternately attract or repel each other when manipulated by the user. The company’s owner wanted to find someone who was willing to make sure it was manufactured properly. He also wanted to source a local South Florida manufacturer so he could stop by to oversee the project. He reached out to several molders in South Florida and decided Blue Ring was the best partner.
After the manufacturing process had been decided, SWVLS opted to discuss color with Blue Ring. They had chosen a set of colors but had not yet selected the specific Pantone numbers or samples for each. Working with Gerardo Perdomo, a Blue Ring engineer, they selected the first set of five Pantone colors and requested sample chips in polypropylene from Chroma Color.
“Upon receipt of the samples, three out of five colors were exactly what we were looking for, but the red and green were slightly off, relative to what we had in mind,” stated Jonathan Hamal, the owner of SWVLS.
Two marker caps with the desired shades were eventually used as samples for color providers to match. The new chips for red and green, colored by Chroma Color, were a perfect match!
“All five colors turned out beautifully in production runs and were consistent with the initial sample chips using the recommended concentrations,” stated Jonathan.
“We are happy with the colors and Blue Ring‘s entire management of our production process, including making minor adjustments to our cycle times and temperatures during the injection molding process to take into consideration the concentration of colorant relative to polypropylene.”
For more information on the SWVLS product visit: https://www.kickstarter.com/
Aspire Products LLC Story:
Aspire Products LLC is another company that benefited from a partnership with Blue Ring. Aspire Products is a medical supply company focused on therapeutic devices targeting coughing, swallowing. and increased breathing capacity.
Photo Caption 3: The new IA150 adapter part produced by Blue Ring for Aspire.
Their products have shown significant improvement in healthy individuals and individuals diagnosed with neurological/neurogenic diseases such as Parkinson’s disease, stroke, multiple sclerosis, ALS, and spinal cord injury. The latest studies also show promising results in diseases such as Pompe and Huntington’s chorea.
The company recently developed the IA150 adapter to insert into their original breathing device, the EMST150™, thereby creating a dual-purpose inspiratory-expiratory device. Because they needed a top-quality product, they wanted to work with a local South Florida molder to ensure that the part was top notch and matched the EMST150™.
Aspire wanted the part to have a tint of color that was transparent enough so that users could view its inner workings during use. Blue Ring advised John Kontos, vice president of sales at Aspire, to try molding the ABS part in several colors to determine what would best meet their needs. They ran the part in a clear tone, along with some smoke gray and blue colors.
During the testing phase, some of the colors did not blend well and they saw imperfections in the part. They did not want to risk any long-term molding problems with those colors, so they chose Chroma Color.
“We ended up with a blue color concentrate from Chroma Color because it performed well, met our needs for being semi-transparent and matched our EMST150 product line,” stated John.
“Our team is glad Blue Ring Technologies helped us develop this part. Everyone working there is professional and patient. They helped us work through all the steps, including choosing the best color for our resin. We are happy with how the part looks. Because we took our time and found a quality molder like Blue Ring, our customers will be happy with the final product,” continued John.
For more information on Aspire products: https://emst150.com/
Summary:
“As Blue Ring Technologies continues to help companies like swvls and Aspire develop and mold their products, we are glad to be able to reply on support from companies like Chroma Color to ensure that these products look great on the shelf and online. If our customers are happy, we are happy,” stated Joaquin.
“It has been great working with a company like Blue Ring Technologies because they remain open to suggestion and desire input such as using our G2® product line. When these new products look great on a shelf or online, everybody benefits when the products sell and the company grows. We get to grow along with them,” stated Alex Macias, OEM director-durables at Chroma Colors. “We look forward to helping Blue Ring overcome any challenges they face while helping their customers launch new products.”
Key Attributes of G2® Color include:
– Up to 30 percent cost-to-color reduction
– The highest pigment loaded custom colors in the industry
– The highest UV/custom colors in the industry
– Shipping within 5-7 days, with independently audited on-time delivery of 98.3 percent
– 1-10 percent cycle-time reduction
– Reduced environmental impact, resulting from a reduction in production energy, packaging materials, and CO2 emissions
About Blue Ring Technologies LLC:
Blue Ring Technologies LLC is South Florida’s most energetic start-up tech. They solve the needs of entrepreneurs and businesses alike in manufacturing their product and ideas. Blue Ring Technologies is a dedicated provider of plastic manufacturing, 3D printing, rapid prototyping, engineering design, tooling, and injection molding services in the South Florida area.
Interested in having Blue Ring Technologies develop your product? Visit: http://blueringtechnologies.