NORTH POLE – December 19, 2022 – Santa’s Workshop has confirmed its delivery of a new plastic sleigh from Gregstrom Corporation, a rotational molder near Boston, Massachusetts (USA) with over 75 years of plastics manufacturing experience. Santa Claus asked Gregstrom to build an even larger sleigh this year because of the North Pole’s growing “Nice” list, which is now fully integrated with its enterprise resource planning (ERP) system. Members of the “Nice” list receive toys made at Santa’s Workshop.
“We’re pleased with the large number of good girls and boys this year,” Santa’s spokesperson, Mrs. Claus, said in-between baking cookies and wrapping presents. Mrs. Claus, who also holds advanced degrees in engineering and material science, worked closely with Santa to prepare the rotomolded sleigh’s design. The couple also received design for manufacturing (DFM) assistance from Gregstrom Corporation, a third-generation, family-owned business with long-time ties to the North Pole.
Rotational molding, or rotomolding, is a plastics manufacturing process that creates strong, hollow products in a variety of shapes, sizes, textures, and colors with features such as molded-in hardware and graphics. Unlike injection molding, another plastics production process, rotational molding has low tooling costs. That’s important with large, one-of-a-kind items such as Santa’s sleigh because mold costs can’t be amortized across high volumes.
Rotomolding also supports quick tooling modifications and uniform walls without the thinning in the extremities that’s common to other production processes. Santa’s sleigh needs to withstand billions of takeoffs and landings each year, and that can put quite a bit of stress on this reindeer-powered vehicle. The new sleigh that Santa ordered from Gregstrom is also filled with polyurethane foam for added strength and insulation. It even includes molded-in hardware, which adds durability.
“Other plastics molding processes just can’t support molded-in hardware like rotomolding can,” said Jeff DiDonato, President of Gregstrom Corporation. “Plus, rotational molding supports permanent parts marking, and that gets the job done without labels or stickers that tend to peel off under winter weather conditions.” Gregstrom does not recommend that children stay up past their bedtime to look for parts marking on Santa’s new sleigh, DiDonato added.
About Gregstrom Corporation
Since 1946, Gregstrom Corporation of Woburn, Massachusetts (USAA) has been Santa’s trusted manufacturing partner. In addition to sleighs, Gregstrom makes rotomolded parts and products for industrial, commercial, and medical customers. Visit the company’s portfolio to see examples of these rotationally molded products, or contact Gregstrom for more information.
