Sut i atal achosion o alw'n ôl cydrannau plastig

Thecomplexityandsizeoftoday'ssupplychaincontributestorecalls, particularlyintheautomotiveindustry. Asthesaying

mynd, thesupplychainisonlyasgoodasitsweakestlink. Plasticshavebecomeubiquitousintheautomotiveindustry, fel

OEMspushtheboundariesofwhat'spossibletomeettheCorporateAverageFuelEconomystandards. Wir, asnotedby

SPI:Theplasticsindustrytradeassociation(Washington,DC), plasticsmakeup50% ofthevolumeofacarbutcontribute

only10% ofthetotalweight.
JeffJansen, Sr., ManagingEngineerwiththeMadisonGroup (Madison, WI), aconsultingfirmforpolymersandtheplastics

industryspecializinginfailureanalysisandqualitycontrol (CF), usesavarietyofanalyticalinstrumentationtocharacterize

polymersandplastics. Jansennotedthatfailureanalysis, failurepreventionandmaterialqualificationandevaluationareei

clients'primaryareasofconcern. Yn ogystal, hiscompanyprovidesassistancewithmaterialselectionandpredictionand

processdevelopment, includinghowthemoldingoperationperforms." WeworkpredominantlywithOEMsandmoldersin

termsofprocessdevelopment, "JansentoldPlasticsToday." Iliketoseeapartnershipbetweenthedesigner, moldmakerac

materialspeople. Tohavethematerialselectedinconcretebeforeyougotothemolderandmoldmakerisamistake.We

oftengetinvolvedinacollaborativeefforttohelpselectaresin, andifwe'rehiredbythemolderwehaveexposuretothe

OEM. Ifwe'rehiredbytheOEM, wehaveexposuretotheresinsupplierandthemolder." TheMadisonGroupworkswith

severalmajorindustries, includingmedicalandautomotive. Jansensaidthecomplexitycomeswithgovernmentregulations,

andintheautomotiveindustrytheOEMshavealotofrulesinplace, suchaswhenPPAP [productionpartapprovalprocess]

willhappen." Betweencompanyguidelinesandfederalregulationstherecanbequiteafewhurdlestoapprovingamaterial

orimplementinganewmaterial,"Jansennoted.HeaddedthattherearethreemajorareaswheretheMadisonGrouphelps

qualifynewresins:Whenanoldresinisdiscontinued; whenanewproductisbeingdeveloped; andinthecaseoffailure

whenthecompanyidentifiesthataresinisn'trightforanapplication." Itcanbeverydifficulttoselectanewresiniftheone

inuseisbeingdiscontinued, "saidJansen." It'stimesensitive, whichmandatesthatyouneedtomovequicklytogetanew

resin. Qualifyingaresinforanewproductindevelopmentiseasierbecauseoftenyoudon'thavethetimecrunch." Reoli

IsamanufacturerofscientificinstrumentsthatincludeinfraredandRamanspectrometers FisherScientific (Waltham, MA),

rheometers, X-rayphotoelectronspectrometers (XPS), andscanningelectron energydispersivex-rayspectrometers (EDS)

microscopes(SEM).ThermoFisherScientificinstrumentsareusedinawiderangeofindustries, notjustautomotive,

includingconsumerproducts, uchel-techelectronicequipment, chemicalsandpharmaceuticals. Thesesystemsareused

ar drawsmanyapplicationsineverythingfromRandamp; D, productdevelopment, analyticalservicesandqualitycontrol.