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Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP)

Supplier Scouting Success: HeavyFoot Weight’s Breakthrough in Cost Efficiency and Market Expansion

With the help of: Manufacture Nevada

About

HeavyFoot Weight is a manufacturer of recreational safety equipment founded in 2019 by Della Washington from Sparks, Nevada. HeavyFoot Weight is a women-owned, minority business created in response to a tragic event involving a children’s birthday party where a high wind event caused a bounce house to become airborne resulting in the death of a child. Della designed, patented, and manufactures a range of HeavyFoot Weight product solutions that enable outdoor recreational activities to be enjoyed safely.

The Challenge

HeavyFoot Weight was experiencing significant challenges, including market acceptance and engagement because of its high price. This stemmed from an elevated direct materials cost and an ineffective supply chain. To be competitive against alternate product solutions, HeavyFoot Weight recognized the need to improve these aspects of their business and turned to Manufacture Nevada, part of the MEP National Network™, for help achieving its goal of reducing material cost, minimizing supply chain complexity, and increasing sales volume. To achieve this objective, HeavyFoot Weight and Manufacture Nevada identified an integral fastening component of the product responsible for driving its cost up.
Working with Jarrad and Rhea at Manufacture Nevada has given HeavyFoot Weight a vision in how we can bring manufacturing here to Reno with great support. They can help by giving us direction on available space and material that we need to have a successful transition in manufacturing from California.
— Della Washington, Founder and Principle of HeavyFoot Weight

MEP's Role

Manufacture Nevada helped HeavyFoot Weight create a game plan that enlisted the Manufacturing Extension Partnership’s (MEP) Supplier Scouting platform. The Supplier Scouting program connected HeavyFoot Weight to the vast contacts and resources of the MEP network. The response was inspiring, within a few weeks 7 MEP centers from across the country had found suppliers that were eager to quote on this component. HeavyFoot Weight elected to partner with a Nevada-based manufacturer of centrifugal castings and precision machined parts. This new supplier relationship reduced the material cost of the targeted component by 60%, improved lead time, and almost eliminated transport costs. As an added benefit, this supply partner assisted HeavyFoot Weight in designing a new sensor-enabled version of their product line that expands their addressable market into new segments for sales and distribution.

Created July 17, 2024