Scout, Pioneer, Eagle's Nest, Covered Wagon, Skyfort and Star Tower. While to many adults these names may conjure images of the Old West, to millions of children nationwide they mean just one thing -- fun.

The Scout Westpoint and Five Star, Pioneer Trading Post, Eagle's Nest Clubhouse, Covered Wagon Corral and Skyfort and Star Tower are all playground kits manufactured by Swing•N•Slide Corp., one of the largest makers of plastic and wooden play kits for the residential market. All plastic components, including the Sidewinder, Cool Wave, Wiggle Wave, Twister Tube and Turbo Tube slides, are constructed of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) thermoformed at the company's facility in Janesville, WI.

"Our competition uses structural foams, but we find that the HDPE is better for weathering. In the colder weather, it won't shatter," said Charlie Bouton, director of manufacturing.

The company manufactures its products in six different colors, with red, yellow and blue the core colors for the residential play sets. Purple and green are used extensively in the commercial line of wood and plastic play sets, which Swing•N•Slide manufactures for sale to daycares, churches, etc., under the Tuff Kids brand name.

According to Bouton, the kits can be customized with regards to slide, deck height and accessories. Each year, the company comes out with a new line or accessory which can be added to existing kits. Among the new offerings this year is the Discovery Mountain Climbing Wall. Thermoformed from HDPE, Discovery Mountain is a simulated rock climbing wall, available in 48 inch or 66 inch applications, which can be attached to the Eagles Nest, Covered Wagon, Playdeck, Skyfort and Sky Tower kits.

Manufacturing Components
Swing•N•Slide uses two Brown four-station rotary thermoformers -- one with twin-sheet capability -- to mold the slides, swings or accessories such as Discovery Mountain, said Stewart Simonson, manager of the 36-person thermoforming department. The tubular slides, for example, are molded into curved parts, which are then bolted together by hardware supplied by Newco, a division of Swing•N•Slide.

The molding process for many of the slides only takes minutes, Simonson said. After heating the sheet, the former brings the sheet to the next station, where the molds drop from the top platen and pull vacuum. After forming, the mold is removed and the part allowed to cool.

"The Turbo slides are typically molded in eight parts, with most of the others in two or three. The molds are cast aluminum, with stainless steel cooling lines. The sheets are purchased from Spartech with the UV inhibitors and colorant already added," he said.

All of the finishing fixtures are built into the molds. After molding multiple components, the parts are rough cut apart and then hand trimmed using Dotco air trimmers fitted with carbide tooling. "CNC machinery is not really applicable for the slides," said Simonson, adding that the hand trimming provides a quick and smooth finish on the finished piece.

Increasing productivity, however, is a constant goal at Swing•N•Slide. Simonson said the thermoforming division is looking for ways to reduce the setup time on the molders. "Setup can be six hours on some of the larger molds. We're striving to get that down to at least three," he said.

"One of the things we're finding is that we're running smaller orders, more often, which means more changeovers," said Bouton.

In addition to manufacturing parts for its own product line, during the playground manufacturing industry's down season (July through November), Swing•N•Slide will at times custom form parts for private label OEMs to keep the machines busy, said Curt Cole, vice president of operations. The OEMs typically supply their own molds and sheets, Cole added.

Marketing Products
Swing•N•Slide's products are sold through more than 6,000 home centers and building supply retailers. According to Cole, Swing•N•Slide has 80 percent of the residential market for wood and plastic play kits.The company also produces the Tuff kids line of do-it-yourself commercial playground kits, which are marketed to apartment buildings, campgrounds, daycare centers, etc.

All kits are packaged complete with hardware; wood must be purchased separately. The company uses an Accucount automatic hardware machine to sort the bolts and other necessary hardware into packages. "Our commitment to customers is to ship full orders within 72 hours," said Bouton.

Plastics Machining & Fabricating
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