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TDCA - Foldable Golf Stand Bag System
TDCA - Foldable Golf Stand Bag System
Background
Manufacturing of golf bags has been moving to new countries due to high tariffs from China to US. If assembly is done outside of China, the manufacturer needs to ship component parts from China to other countries, so they want to stay in China to keep supply chain efficient.
By decreasing the size of the bag, more bags can fit into one shipping container and decrease overall shipping cost. For example, if the size of the bag decreases by half then the shipping cost could decrease from $10 to $5. If the manufacturer saves $5 per bag and ships 1 million bags per year, then they would save $5 million per year. Even though the golf bags are quite light at 2-5 lbs, which would usually have a shipping cost of $5-8 dollars on Amazon, since they are oversize the shipping cost increases to around $13. Creating a smaller product will decrease shipping costs and allow for more profit.
Objectives
Able to be folded to 50% or more of its original size. The original size was 0.11 x 0.08 x 0.8 m.
Have no more than 3 user-assembled parts.
Maintain the original functionality of the PAR3 golf bag, which can hold 7 golf clubs without failing.
In addition, the project should aim for a prototype that should be aesthetically pleasing to the customer, ensure good user experience, and can be manufactured well.
Final Prototype Status
Assembled View Unassembled Folded View (40% of original size)
Folded length decreased by 60%
- Original box volume was 35 in x 6 in x 8 in = 1680 in^3
- Current box volume is 14.5 in x 6 in x 8 in = 696 in^2
Limited to 3 user-assembled parts:
1 partial stand + 2 tent pole legs
CAD of Final Design
Key Computational Methods
Solidworks Simulation on All Rigid Components of the Bag
Applying 18N (force applied from bag’s maximum club capacity) of force on the top-base and the partial stand
Smallest Factor of Safety is 29.7 on the Upper Stand Bracket (304 Steel)
Highest Factor of Safety is 7552.6 on the Connector (Polypropylene)
User Assembly Instruction Manual
Example of Feedback Form from User Testing
How Does Decreasing Size Decrease Cost?
International shipping is ~$4.67 per unit. Domestic shipping is ~$13 per unit.
Standard shipping container of 1600 units costs ~$35743 total to ship to destination.
Original shipping cost per golf bag = $22.34
Decreasing the length of the golf bag by half leads to double the number of units that can be shipped in 1 container. Shipping 1600 x 2 = 3200 units is still for $35743. Domestic shipping per unit reduced to ~$7.
Reduced shipping cost per golf bag = $11.17
To put this into perspective, If TDCA sold 100,000 golf bags annually, this could lead to saving $1,117,000 saved annually.
Video Showing How to Assemble Golf Bag
Guidelines for Creating your Project Webpage
The project webpage can serve as a valuable link on student resumes for years to come; so organize it well!
The web page should be easily readable by anyone with general interest in the project, as well as provide technical detail and documentation for engineers. Most people are in a hurry, so you need to be concise to get people interested but also provide details for those that want to learn more.
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