Checklist: Adhesion Failure Root-Cause Analysis for Manufacturers
While the prevalence of adhesion technologies has increased significantly in manufacturing, the knowledge required to achieve predictable, consistent performance has not kept up. Nor have the methods of finding the things that cause inconsistencies, setbacks and failures of adhesion. This checklist

Extruding High-Performance Thermoplastic Filaments for 3D Printing
Utilizing IPE’s vast experience with a variety of polymers to engineer an advanced thermoplastic extrusion solution, that is faster to make and more cost effective, to replace metals and thermoset materials in critical applications for use in 3D printers.

How to Streamline Process Design to Production for Medical Devices
Among all of the challenges particular to medical device manufacturing, one of the most frustrating aspects can be clearing the chasm between product development and production. This is where oversight groups can make progress sluggish but also provide necessary checks on the process that ultimately result in

Case Study: Tekni-Plex Coextruded Barrier Structures Enable Commercialization of Emerging Drug Therapies
Multilayer flexible film for sterile liquid reservoirs relies on tie resins to optimize the extractables and leachables profile

New to Outsourcing? Five Areas Your Team Should Audit
Companies that regularly outsource normally have well-developed systems in place for evaluating potential electronics manufacturing services (EMS) partners and a standardized process for transferring projects. Conversely, companies new to outsourcing face a learning curve with every step of the process. A

Leverage Key Suppliers for Consolidation
Market trends are driving significant consolidation within the medical device industry. OEMs are collaborating with suppliers that can provide solutions for multiple steps in the supply chain thereby: *Freeing up capital* Reduce workload*Increasing quality control*Improving

The Importance of Choosing The Right Plastic
Choosing the proper plastic for your injection molded component can be challenging. There are hundreds of raw resins to consider, and you must decide if the project will require an additive (like a flame retardant or UV stabilizer) and/or a colorant. Some combinations can be mixed at the resin supplier’s faci

A Closer Look At Electrical Tests
In one of our previous posts, we discussed the importance of product testing in manufacturing. In this article, we’ll focus on the most common types of electrical tests. Hipot Testing Although many of the tests required by safety certifications like UL or CSA are performed

The Basics of Stepper Motor Control
The Basics of Stepper Motor ControlDue to their durability, reliability, efficiency and availability in standardized sizes and mounting options, stepper motors are widely used in industrial automation, robotics, and new niche consumer products like desktop 3D printers. In this article, we’ll talk about the ba

Moving Down the Line: Electromagnetic Linear Actuators
In a recent post, we discussed the main categories of electric motors and how they operate. While those electric motors fulfill an important need any time you have to convert electricity into rotational motion, sometimes rotation is not the type of movement needed for an application. In this article, we’ll di

Sealing the Deal: A Primer on Rubber Injection Molding
Injection molding isn’t just for thermoplastics. The same process, with a few minor tweaks, can also be applied to synthetic rubbers. Having largely displaced natural rubber for almost all uses except automobile tires, modern elastomers (short for “elastic polymers”) are as specialized as thermoplastic resins

A Rundown of Runners
Before molten resin can fill the part cavity, it must first wind its way from the sprue (the inlet of the mold) to the gate(s). In between those two end points, the molten resin is distributed through channels, called the runner system. Think of the sprue as the highway, the runners are streets and the g

How to Successfully Contract Out Cable Harness Assembly
A lot of OEMs (particularly smaller ones) use cable assemblies in their products built in-house and usually do the assembly by hand with the help of tools like crimpers, strippers, and heat guns. Building these harnesses by hand is very labor intensive, so eventually OEMs hire a contract manufacturer with the

Choosing the Right Motor Can Really Move Your Application Forward
By converting electrical energy into motion, electrical motors literally keep our modern world turning. From compressors to ceiling fans, vacuum pumps to vacuum cleaners and dialysis machines to drones, motors are everywhere. They are so significant that entire books have been written about the different type

Are You as Pumped about Pumps as We Are?
Out of the three normal states of matter—solid, liquid, and gas—pumps can move the last two and pressurize the last one. Pumps not only force fluids to flow, but can also create a vacuum by compressing gas to a high pressure, evacuating air from a container. Pumps move fuel from your car’s tank to

Overlooked Thermal Considerations for PCBAs
Although we immediately think of electronics when printed circuit board assemblies (PCBAs) are mentioned, good PCBA design is in fact a multidisciplinary endeavor spanning electrical, mechanical, and even chemical engineering. However, one area where technology companies can run into trouble with PCBA designs

The Importance of Tool Material Choice
In injection molding, there are two critical “material” choices that need to be made: which plastic material to make the product out of, and which tool material to use when building the part’s mold. Each choice has many options, but to add to the complexity, the resin selected can impose significant constrain

The Importance of Gates
Gates can be a standard part of the injection molding process. They are normally formed as molten plastic flows from the machine’s nozzle tip into a sprue and runner system, then into the part’s cavity. Gates are the last section of the runner system and attach it to the part. Therefore, everything from the g

Using Core-outs to Reduce the Weight of Plastic Parts
Core-outs are sections of a plastic part where a thick section of solid material has been replaced by a square, rectangle, or hexagonal section. This effectively replaces that solid material with empty voids surrounded by walls and ribs of uniform thickness. The core-outs themselves are usually placed on non-

Importance of DFM Analysis For Injection Molding
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure; or prevents hundreds of scrapped parts at least. Of all the design requirements, meetings, specifications and documentation involved when it comes to injection molded plastic parts, one of the most critical elements of the design process is often overlooked: a

Choosing the Correct Tool Cavitation
Injection molding is a great way to produce a large number of plastic components at high speed and a reasonable cost. What OEMs often overlook however, is one key question which could make this great method even better: How many cavities should my tool have to make the most parts, at the best quali

The Importance of Uniform Wall Thickness in Plastics
Keeping the walls of your injection molded plastic part the same thickness is important for maintaining good cosmetics and structural integrity. In this article, we’ll explain in-depth why uniform wall thickness is so important. Preventing Sink Marks The number one reason

Medical Device Contract Manufacturing — When Less is More
In the highly competitive industry of medical devices, outsourcing is almost required to stay ahead. Its benefits are evident — multidisciplinary expertise, cost savings, flexibility, expansion, reduced risk, increased innovation, and quality assurance to name just a few. As a highly competitive industry, the

Manufacturer’s Roadmap to Eliminating Adhesion Issues in Production
To produce quality products, manufacturing processes involving adhesion must be properly controlled, whether the adhesion relates to painting, coating, printing, sealing, or bonding. In recent years, issues with adhesion have become even more complex and critical to control. Significant technol

Predictable Adhesion in Manufacturing Through Process Verification
From start to finish, manufacturers rely on process controls that are predictable, dependable and consistent. This is the only way to deliver reliable, high-quality products. Controlling adhesion and cleaning processes found throughout manufacturing operations is crucial to achieving the predictable high perf

Supporting Variable Demand: Strategies that Work
Variable demand projects are often the most difficult to outsource. The challenge isn’t finding electronics manufacturing services (EMS) providers who are willing to build them. The challenge is finding EMS providers whose processes have been optimized to efficiently support them. SigmaTron International regu

How to optimize coatings and substrates for compatible devices
Through careful analysis of surface properties of coatings, substrates, and surface preparation we gain an abundance of information about their compatibility within the body and with each other, such as: ·        how completely a coating

Zebra OEM Siemens case
Siemens Healthineers and Zebra Technologies: Optimizing patient care with fast, accurate and secure blood gas analysis

Case Study: Custom Formulated Material Delivers High Performance for a Surgical Seal Solution
A large medical technology company aimed to upgrade its medical device solution used primarily to cut and cauterize tissue in minimally invasive surgeries. The goal was to improve the design to allow surgeons to reuse the device by creating a disposable biocompatible flexible sleeve cover for the surgical i

Mechatronic Integration for Precision Medical Device Linear Motion
Optimizing the Ball Screw and Motor Interface for Compact Form, High Efficiency, and Positioning Accuracy