Industry: Automotive Manufacturing – Specialty Components
Number of Employees: 10
Commonly Qualifying Tasks:
- Design and development of component designs, concepts, etc.
- Develop new composite materials, alloys, etc.
- Design and development new components, tooling, etc.
- Develop and implement improved manufacturing process
- Develop new manufacturing processes for new components
- Create prototypes and execute first article runs
A specialty component builder for vehicles was interested in evaluating the potential for generating R&D tax credits based on their one-off and bolt-on products that were both designed and fabricated by their team. Their specialty was building ultra-durable components that would accommodate extreme loads and stresses.
Their process was one that required extensive evaluation and design alternative iteration. Essentially, their work could be classified into three different categories. The first, was contracted work with specific clients. These contracts covered a wide range of qualifying activities including ongoing evaluations of components during test runs, tear down and rebuilding of components for specific conditions and finally, the development of individual parts to address specific issues with wear, durability and performance.
The second type of project was derived from custom vehicle builders who delivered a specific set of requirements without having a specific idea for design. Utilizing these requirements, the team was tasked with designing components from the ground up to address the concerns developed during the pre-design phase. In addition, extensive component evaluations were conducted on these types of projects to tailor make each components for each application.
The final project type was the internal product development process. This included all of the custom parts that were being developed for the consumer market. These products were all designed from the ground up to address the needs of the hobby enthusiast that needed more robust and durable systems.
A review of their activities revealed that four of their employees did in fact perform qualifying activities which included component evaluations, part designing, prototyping, modifying transmissions and prototype testing. Through their study, the company was able to generate $600k in QREs resulting in $70k in credit and refunds.
