Consulting retainers · Enrollment capped
When the line goes down, your expert is already on the phone.
The worst time to find a plastics expert is the week warpage hits production. A retainer puts a principal ETS engineer on call for your programs: guaranteed response times, consulting hours every month and on-site visits, before the problem is a crisis.
The hidden cost of reactive consulting
You’re already paying for expertise. Just late.
Every week spent finding, vetting and briefing an outside expert while a line is down or a launch slips is paid in scrap, overtime and customer patience. A retainer converts that emergency spend into a planned line item.
| Scenario | Without a retainer | With an ETS retainer |
|---|---|---|
| Production line stops | Weeks to engage an expert | Priority response within hours |
| New part design | Pay per project at premium rates | Covered by retainer hours |
| Supplier dispute | Hire and brief an outsider from scratch | Your partner already knows the program |
| Knowledge gaps | Expensive trial and error | Preventive guidance from day one |
Retainer tiers
Three levels of on-call.
Month-to-month engagement scoped in writing. Enrollment is deliberately capped so response quality never is.
Silver
A senior engineer in your corner for one active program.
- 10 consulting hours per month
- Email and phone support
- Quarterly check-ins
Gold
Multiple programs, a guaranteed clock, and time on your floor.
- 25 consulting hours per month
- Priority response guarantee
- 1 on-site visit quarterly
- Custom reporting
Platinum
A dedicated principal embedded in your engineering organization.
- Unlimited consulting hours
- 4-hour critical response SLA
- 2 on-site visits monthly
- Dedicated ETS principal
- Executive dashboard access
Why it pays for itself
One caught warp issue covers the quarter.
A single wall-thickness problem caught before tooling avoids $25K–$75K of rework. A material substitution can cut part cost for the life of the program. A retainer delivers those interventions proactively, not after the damage.
Retainer spend may also qualify for R&D tax credits.
Design errors caught pre-tooling cost a fraction of post-tooling fixes.
Your retainer engineer reviews parts as they’re designed, not after the tool trial.
Critical response
Line down or customer complaint.
Years of data
Every mold you’ll run, we’ve probably seen fail.
Accelerate new programs
Skip the learning curve with four decades of material and process outcomes.
Protect the supply chain
Expert backing when you negotiate with suppliers or resolve disputes, with testimony-grade documentation if it escalates.
Next step
Retainer slots are limited on purpose.
We cap enrollment so response quality never slips. Tell us your programs and we’ll recommend a tier, in writing, within one business day.
- NDA on request
- Senior engineer replies in one business day
- Fixed price where applicable
- Your data stays yours