Spring 2006
The Canteen Line: The hard-bodied canteen fits inside the cup, which fits inside the cup stand
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Product Spotlight: Canteen Cup
The Seattle Lighthouse is adding the third and final piece of its canteen line -- the canteen cup.
“It’s a unique process for us because we make the canteen. We make the canteen cup stand, which is the stove. Now, we make the canteen cup,” says Pat O’Hara, general manager of operations. “Putting this on the procurement list will guarantee that, as long as they make the cup, we will have it. If they change the cup to something else, we have an opportunity to go after that.”
The Seattle Lighthouse supplies the three part canteen line, which includes the hard-bodied canteen, canteen cup stand, and canteen cup, to the U. S. government. The Seattle Lighthouse is currently in year one of a three year contract manufacturing between 50,000 – 410,000 cups per year.
Military personnel use the canteen cup in conjunction with the canteen and cup-stand stove to stay hydrated. “It’s their primary drinking equipment, both hot and cold,” says Paul Fletcher, production development manager. “You can drink from the canteen, but you can’t heat it whereas you can heat the cup using the cup stand.”
Adding this product to the Lighthouse manufacturing line creates thirteen new jobs for blind and Deaf-Blind individuals. “There’s all level of work involved,” says Paul. “From welding fixtures to hydroforming, which is fairly technical.”
“We will have people learning how to run punch presses. We will have people learning how to run hydroform machines, which is a unique skill set,” adds Pat. “There’s not a lot of hydroform equipment in Seattle. The experience [hydroform operators] are going to get is very valuable for Seattle.”
Hydroforming is a process where a die has material flowed over it within the hydroform machine. This process ensures uniformity of material thickness and weight in a part. “There is no other way to fabricate this part than hydroforming,” Pat explains. “It’s a big deal that we’re adding this new process which can be used in manufacturing aerospace parts along with the cup. After we familiarize ourselves with the process and have the cup line up and running, we will be going after other lines.”
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The canteen cup.
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The cup begins its manufacturing cycle in cup form. First, two flat dies are created at a punch press machine. From the flat pattern, the cup is hydroformed. The flat die is placed in the machine and material is flowed over it within the machine. From there, the cup is trimmed and tumbled to deburr the part, that is take the sharp edges off the cup and create a duller finish.
Handles for the cup are precisely cut and bended in a 2-axis Computer Numerically Controlled machine then the handles are welded onto the cup via machine. Finally, the assembled cup is immersed in a citric acid passivation tank.
“We have designed and built a closed system passivation tank, which means no water is added,” says Pat. “It’s a zero discharge system, which is environmentally-friendly. It will cost less to operate and nothing goes down the drain.”
Passivation is among the highly-skilled manufacturing jobs the acquisition of the cup line has created along with hydroforming, punch press operations, and CNC operations. “This will create good jobs. That’s the main thing,” Pat says. “This is the unique opportunity because of the number of people we will employ quickly.”
The machine shop team will provide on-going training to employees working on the cup line, both on a one-on-one basis and in group training settings. “We’re going to lean on our whole crew,” says Pat. “Training will be ongoing forever. There is no end date to training.”
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