Monday, January 13, 2014

The Rewards Of Using Structural Foam

By Marissa Velazquez


Using structural foam is becoming increasingly popular today for many reasons. Companies both big and small are realizing its potential and are taking advantage of it to produce their products. In addition to its low cost, it also makes use of lightweight and efficient materials. This helps companies save on handling and shipping costs. However, there are more benefits to using this remarkable technology.

Standardized injection machines are also a cheap way to get ready to make a new product which has the same features. Simply put, many different parts can be mass-produced with identical features. For example, if a company makes various sized toolboxes these can be made to appear identical using the same mold.

It also means that several different types of parts can be made with one machine. In addition, the machine can handle two different colors and kinds of materials at the same time. This will save lots of money for the company because they can produce several versions of the same product at the same time.

The other machines cost $1 million and over. Rather than having a number of these expensive machines for various products a business can purchase one machine to accomplish an equivalent job. All aspects are computerized, which suggests the planning process is simple and easy. A worker simply types in the specifications together with the desired quantities. The computer does the remainder.

Plus, different products can be strategically placed at different positions within the mold process. This optimizes the use of materials because each part is laid out efficiently on the mold. The left side of one part can be made adjacent to, or gated next to another part, thereby making the best utilization of raw materials.

The whole process uses low-pressure methods to create the items. The result is less war-page and higher quality control. The pieces are identical in quality since each pieces made right next to each other in the same manner. Still, the whole process is fast because the machines use certain techniques during the manufacturing process.

This gives the company a wide range of design flexibilities. It also allows them to repeat the process over and over while at the same time making small adjustments. This certainly helps in the research and development aspect of creating new products. Production costs are lowered because the process utilizes less material and less time in development

However, the benefits do not stop here. The new material is stronger than, or equal to metal. The weight is lower than its counterpart, but the strength to weight ratio is typically stronger than metal. Even as counterpart, solid plastic is not as strong as using injection materials. This fact alone gives injection a big money-saving advantage compared with other techniques.

Using structural foam during the manufacturing process is easy these days. Plus, the equipment costs are lower when compared to purchasing the other types of manufacturing machines. A single machine will do the work of many others while using fewer raw materials. It only makes sense to investigate the possibilities further.




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