Miles Products is pleased to have been called upon by DECKED to be one of their manufacturing partners and help produce the company’s innovative truck accessory product line.
Continue reading to learn how we worked with DECKED to develop, manufacture and launch of their new products.
Read the entire DECKED case study here.
Work hard and play hard.
Pickup trucks and vans need to meet the many demands of their owners. From workhorse duties for trade professionals to a wide range of personal recreational pursuits from gardening to off-road motorcycling. It’s no surprise that trucks are so popular in America.
Jake Peters and his friends not only expect a lot from their trucks, devising the best way to organize and haul cargo became their pastime and passion. Building and refining homemade storage in their own pickups was the inspiration for DECKED – high quality and hard working truck storage systems.
It was still just a concept when Jake first contacted Miles Products with his plans. He was unsure how the large sized, multi-piece units would be designed and produced or if there were even processes and materials strong enough to deliver the heavy duty product he envisioned.
Miles Products was confident that structural foam molding would be up to the task. Then after further discussions with Jake, we determined that our manufacturing experience and contacts could offer more than the structural foam that would make up the larger components.
So we rolled up our sleeves and all got to work together.
Up to the task.
With the drawer parts as large 72”x24”x10” and deck panels 78”x28” in size, structural foam molding was the clear choice for molding the main DECKED parts. Plus, structural foam molded material is ideal for manufacturing lightweight parts that can withstand the extremes of outdoor use along with the heavy weights and abuse it needs to withstand in the back of a pickup truck.
As is often the case with custom products, some of the requirements were not straightforward. Even with structural foam’s high tensile strength and molded ribs in the design, the decks needed to hold 2000 pounds while keeping a narrow profile. Our design team came up with an innovative solution using hollow metal rods that were insert molded into the structural foam. It was done in a way that allowed the rods to remain loose so the parts could take the expansion and contraction of extreme weather.
The scale and complexity of the DECKED system meant that other processes and materials were also required. Smaller parts and components produced with other specialist plastic injection molding were in the bill of materials.
Our years of industry experience allowed us to recommend and call in suppliers to manufacture many the custom parts and DECKED needed, even those outside of our specialty of molded thermoplastics.
Special items we provided included:
- Decorative die-cast aluminum drawer pull handles
- Drawer axle assemblies and runners for the DECKED drawers
- Cold headed metal hinges and axles
- Steel and pad-printed rulers used for the deck edging
The entire project from start to finished product was a great experience and team effort. It’s been a pleasure to work on and the final results make it even more satisfying.
