LHM Engineering Becomes Co-Owner of Tahr Equipment

Learn more about our involvement with a startup to help bring a rough idea for a consumer product from prototype to a successful brand with a robust US supply chain.

We are excited to announce that in the spring of 2023, LHM Engineering officially partnered with co-founder Griffin Marshall to launch the consumer product brand Tahr Equipment.

Tahr Equipment is an outdoor recreation equipment brand currently focused on a single product called the Cap Strap. The Cap Strap is a Nalgene water bottle accessory used in multi-pitch rock climbing, whitewater kayaking, and other outdoor activities. It is constructed of powder-coated aluminum with a webbing strap to create a strong connection point for securing water bottles in high-risk environments.

Here is a short video demonstrating the product:

LHM Engineering brings expert experience in engineering, manufacturing, and supply chain logistics to the partnership. We are proud to make this product in the USA while maintaining a competitive price for consumers. Our involvement with Tahr Equipment showcases LHM Engineering's entire suite of manufacturing services, bringing the Cap Strap product from the brainstorming stage to a high-volume consumer product with a robust US-based manufacturing supply chain:

Prototyping: Through the stages of Tahr's design process, LHM produced prototypes using both rapid 3D printing to check component fit, and CNC machined aluminum prototypes to test the product's durability. We then worked with local vendors to quickly produce samples using production processes before committing to larger orders.

Supply Chain Management: At LHM, we have significant production capabilities for mid to high-volume component manufacturing. However, our core competency is CNC machining of complex components, a relatively expensive manufacturing process compared to other industrial manufacturing methods.

When involved with the design of Tahr's products or a client's product, we always want to steer the design direction that results in the most economical and scalable manufacturing solution. In the case of the Cap Strap, the best choice was to utilize high-volume sheet metal and industrial sewing vendors to produce products domestically at a competitive price.

Through a rigorous process, we evaluated vendors based on several factors, including quality, price, flexibility, and scalability. Based on these evaluations, we developed a 2-tier supply chain with a primary and secondary supplier for every critical operation in the manufacturing process. This system offers redundancy to Tahr Equipment's supply chain to ensure that production is independent of a single point of failure.

Packaging: Optimizing every step of the process is critical to making consumer products in the USA. Performing time studies, we were able to reconfigure retail packaging to reduce packing labor by 80% from the initial packaging solution. An increase in efficiency often requires a significant upfront investment in automation or equipment. However, we made simple changes in this case that reduced labor times and eliminated carpal tunnel-type motions without substantial upfront investment.

Production Management, Quality Control, and Assembly: Today, LHM manages all vendors throughout the manufacturing process. All products are received at LHM's facility, quality-controlled, packaged, and distributed to wholesale accounts and 3PL facilities.

Seeing the brand's massive growth in DTC and retail sales environments has been inspiring, and we are excited about the future of building in-house products to complement our suite of manufacturing services.