{"id":14412,"date":"2023-12-20T01:18:07","date_gmt":"2023-12-20T09:18:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fictiv.com\/?post_type=cpt_case_study&p=14412"},"modified":"2024-09-24T05:24:46","modified_gmt":"2024-09-24T12:24:46","slug":"catalyst-engineering","status":"publish","type":"cpt_case_study","link":"https:\/\/www.fictiv.com\/case-studies\/catalyst-engineering","title":{"rendered":"Catalyst Engineering Success Story"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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About the team<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Industry:<\/strong> Robotics<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Product:<\/strong> Animatronics, robotics, Proteus platform<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Location:<\/strong> Acworth, Georgia<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Why Fictiv<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Customer challenges:<\/strong> Needed faster turnaround and lower costs than in-house or larger machine shops offered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Capabilities Leveraged:<\/strong> 3D printing, injection molding, CNC machining.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Result:<\/strong> With Fictiv, Catalyst gained greater agility, faster profits, and the ability to offer 20% lower prices than competitors, 2X faster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Ever wonder how the animatronics featured in \u201cHagrid\u2019s Magical Ride\u201d or \u201cPirates of the Caribbean\u201d are made? These complex creatures are imagined and then designed by engineers like Brian Burns, who co-founded Catalyst Engineering<\/a> with Rebecca Burns in 2021. 

From the start, Catalyst had a clear vision: Build high-quality, creative, and well-designed animatronics, robotics, and show action equipment that is reasonably priced and performs exceptionally, without the inefficiencies they noticed in larger companies. 

Catalyst also recognized the opportunities for animatronics globally and saw real efficiency problems with the old approaches to designing and manufacturing their products. Brian Burns explains, \u201cWe keep our core techniques, competencies, and abilities
in-house and partner with other vendors like Fictiv for the rest. This keeps us lean and efficient, without sacrificing efficiency or capacity.\u201d By all accounts, this plan is working. They\u2019re quickly becoming a trailblazer in the robotics and animatronics space.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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We keep our core techniques, competencies, and abilities in-house and partner with other vendors like Fictiv for the rest. This keeps us lean and efficient, without sacrificing efficiency or capacity.\n<\/p>\n– Brian Burns, Catalyst<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Before Fictiv, Catalyst was accustomed to long lead times and expensive prototyping for its complex, highly unique animatronics. With in-house manufacturing, the delays and larger teams meant siloed efforts and longer lead times, which didn\u2019t work for Catalyst. Smaller shops weren\u2019t doable either. According to Catalyst Co-founder Rebecca Burns, \u201cWhen a project goes through a smaller shop, it’s easy to bottleneck the shop. With Fictiv, the bandwidth is enormous, so capacity is available.\u201d Fictiv\u2019s highly vetted global network<\/a> of manufacturing partners also enabled them to get matched to the right supplier for their requirements quickly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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With Fictiv, the bandwidth is enormous, so capacity is available.<\/p>\nRebecca Burns, Catalyst<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Unique Animatronics Design and Manufacturing Challenges<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The complexity of Catalyst\u2019s designs posed unique challenges. According to Brian Burns,\u201cWe joke about our designs being difficult. Typically, if we get 25 parts for a robot and put it all together, two or three of those parts require reconfiguring, either because something came up during assembly or the customer needs something changed. Fictiv allows us to react quickly, get those modifications, and get the manufacturing process started quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Fictiv allows us to react quickly, get those modifications, and get the manufacturing process
started quickly.<\/p>\n– Brian Burns, Catalyst<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

While design for robotics and animatronics share many components and processes, animatronics require an added level of complexity to achieve a specific organic shape, often presenting complex challenges for fitting components and mechanisms into tight spaces. Unlike robotics, where space is not always a key factor, animatronics are designed to achieve the look of a creature or character.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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