Ideal partnership revolves around knowledge, experience and time savings

Partner. Someone with whom you do something together, reads the definition in Van Dale. A label that Hoffmann Group more than deserves, according to Guru Plastics. From day one, the company from Heverlee could count on the specialist in tools, fittings and PPE to assist it with advice, action and quality material.

Since 2016, Guru Plastics has specialized in the development and production of plastic parts for small series and prototypes. A name that immediately hits the mark because, as befits a true guru, the Heverlee-based company likes to share its expertise with its customers. "Our knowledge and experience are the starting point. We certainly don't claim to have all the wisdom, but we are always going to propose an economically correct solution to the customer. Even if we have to refer him to colleagues for that," says manager Nicolas De Jaegere. 

What makes Guru Plastics so unique in the market is that it does everything in-house. From the development and construction of the mold, to the first injection molded parts and further productions. Metal and plastics in one workshop, in other words. "It's the only way to stay competitive against foreign competitors. By doing everything yourself you create margins, efficiency and time savings."

To ISO certification

An approach that paid off. In five years, the area of the studio went times four to keep up with all the orders. The limits to growth have certainly not yet been reached. "We estimate that there is still enough potential in Belgium to triple our turnover. The next step will be obtaining ISO 13485 certification. That will open even more doors in the medical sector, where this is an important prerequisite for cooperation." 

A mission that was actually in the back of Guru Plastics' mind from its inception. Quality floats above in the workshop. Accuracies within 1/1000 occur regularly. "With the right people, machines and tools, this goes more smoothly than I expected. Our way of working has been set up from day one so that we are already putting into practice the principles associated with this standard. Now it's just a matter of securing them in the proper procedures. A process that we will certainly have completed within two years."

Transparency and support

For a start-up, however, it is not always easy to secure suppliers. Something De Jaegere experienced firsthand. But it can also be done differently. His search for the right partner for tool management proved that. "I was already familiar with the quality of Hoffmann Group, but I never thought that a player of that size would show interest in our project. An opportunity I grabbed with both hands, because the complete organization behind these high-quality products allows me to work extremely efficiently. From the transparent webshop, the right tools for the highest accuracies and the custom cabinets so that everything has its place, to the technical support of specialists. Moreover, I don't have to keep a huge stock myself. The products I order arrive the very next day. Time is the most difficult factor in business. With Hoffmann Group as a central contact for tools, PPE and fixtures, I don't have to lose any. That's worth so much."

Details

A good example of how smoothly the collaboration runs, according to De Jaegere, is graphite milling. "The intention is to eventually eliminate zinc sparking as much as possible because it is a time-consuming process. But eliminating this completely is difficult. Therefore, graphite milling offers an excellent alternative to quickly apply details to electrodes, and reduce the number of electrodes." 

That the material is a lot cheaper, especially since corona, proved to be an additional asset. De Jaegere turned to Hoffmann Group. After all, graphite milling is a niche field. "Then you immediately notice the strength of what makes Hoffmann Group run so well. They have the right specialists in each domain, who were able to teach us what material we need and what the appropriate strategies are. Knowledge and experience that were all the way to our studio in no time. Then it was up to us to gain experience and further refine the process. And the tools? Yes those too are just available from stock right away, so we don't have to keep them in stock ourselves. Details like that really keep us competitive in the marketplace. Without Hoffmann Group, we would never have advanced so efficiently."