Gasket and seal manufacture
Silicone and rubber gaskets moulded to your drawing, in the grade and hardness your sealing job actually needs. Enclosure gaskets, static fluid…
See the serviceProject record · Automotive tier-2 · Compression
An automotive tier-2 supplier's moulded seal.
A rubber sealing component supplied into a tier-1 that fits it into a vehicle. Not exotic; not complex; just needs to arrive when the build schedule needs it. That's harder than it sounds.
The brief
A seal that had to arrive on time, every time, in fluctuating volumes.
A UK-based tier-2 automotive supplier had been sourcing an EPDM sealing component from a European moulder for several years. The parts were fine. The delivery reliability wasn't. Build schedules from the tier-1 fluctuated week to week; the European supplier's schedule couldn't respond fast enough.
The tier-2 supplier was carrying weeks of safety stock to cover the schedule gap. Working capital tied up in a warehouse; risk of scrap if the tier-1 revised down; exposure if the tier-1 revised up faster than the supplier could react.
They needed UK supply — same part, same material spec, but with lead time that matched the tier-1's cadence. That's why they came to us.
The problem
The parts were right. The supply model was wrong for the customer's rhythm.
The part itself needed no design change. It was a straightforward EPDM sealing gasket, compression-moulded, with a spec that the tier-2 already trusted. The problem was the geography and the batch model, not the manufacturing.
We proposed a UK-based programme: we make the tool, we hold stock at a defined buffer level, we produce batches on shorter lead times than the European supplier could match. Payback for the tooling investment would happen through reduced safety stock and reduced lost sales from build-schedule mismatch.
The commercial conversation was less about unit price (roughly comparable to the European supplier) and more about total cost of ownership, factoring in inventory carrying cost and stock-out risk.
What we changed
We tooled UK, held a small buffer, and ran short-lead-time batches.
The manufacturing was standard. The commercial arrangement was where the value was.
Compression tool cut in UK
Tool built to the existing drawing, first samples matched against retained parts from the European supplier.
Material spec formally verified
EPDM compound verified against the tier-1's original approval documentation. Compound spec locked for the programme.
Small buffer stock held at our facility
Not weeks — days. Enough to absorb build-schedule fluctuation without the working capital hit of the previous arrangement.
Short-lead-time batch supply
Batches produced on a defined lead time from PO. UK freight to customer's assembly location.
Monthly forecast review
Rolling forecast reviewed monthly. Buffer level adjusted based on recent volatility. Both sides visible into the same numbers.
Escalation route documented
Named engineer, escalation path to operations lead, defined response times for urgent orders. Not just an email address.
The commercial shape
Unit cost similar. Working capital dropped. Stock-out risk went away.
Unit cost was within a few percent of the European supplier — competitive, but not the story. The story was working capital: safety stock dropped by roughly two-thirds, freeing meaningful capital in the tier-2's balance sheet. And the tier-1 stopped seeing stock-outs on the tier-2's shipments.
The tooling investment recovered inside the first year through the inventory reduction alone. Ongoing savings continue year over year.
This project was less about manufacturing sophistication and more about matching a UK supply model to a UK build cadence. Straightforward, but valuable.
“We stopped carrying eight weeks of stock. The tier-1 stopped complaining about our OTIF. Both from moving the tool eighty miles.”
Services used
How this programme was actually delivered.
Compression moulding
Solid silicone or rubber pre-formed, loaded into a heated steel tool, and pressed under cure. Sensible tooling cost, thousands of parts per tool, and…
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For volumes measured in the hundreds or low thousands per batch, released on your schedule rather than ours. Bridge tooling, dedicated compression,…
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If your project rhymes with this one, get in touch.
The commercial shapes described in our project records are examples of what's worked, not prices we're quoting today. Every programme sizes differently based on part geometry, annual volume, material family and paperwork requirements.
For a first conversation about whether we'd be the right supplier for your part, send a drawing or a sample with your rough annual volume. That's enough to know if the fit is real.
Designed and developed in the UK. UK moulding capability, with some higher-volume production placed with trusted partners where that's the right commercial answer.
Get in touch
Tell us the part, the volume, and the timeline.
Rough annual volume, target unit price, and any deadlines. That's enough to work out whether compression, LSR injection or something else is the right tool.
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You deal with the people who make it.
No call centre and no middlemen. When you contact TCI Products, you speak to the team who design, build and check your mould.
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