Month: September 2022

Polymer Products And How They Can Benefit Your Business!

Having a huge amount of experience in business involving different forms of custom extrusion services I believe what the world has been missing is polymer manufactured products. Or more of it since a lot of the different cities around our country have already decorated their structures with these products. I find it interesting how long the list is of things that can be produced from this process. It all begins with the unique extruding process; plastic beads are melted down and mixed with a specific die. After the die and plastic is melted and mixed it’s shaped into whatever length or desired shape.

Thinking of how many different molds and shapes this can be made into enlists a lot of help towards different companies. Examples of different products that can be put together that might have been overlooked before may be window frames or wire piping used for a variation of wire insulation.

Having in mind how many different structures demand insulation and obviously all windows aspects must be thought of, a large amount of profit rises. Companies that deal with plastic base their product off of 100 percent American made materials, with no worry of buying foreign imports.

Other interesting examples are commonly used items such as adhesive tape, to repair those unwanted damages. Even small toy figures or small models can be made by this process. With peoples knowledge of theses uses it seems to rise as a profit maker.

Purchasing in bulk from warehouses can also provide a unique money saving habit. With the difficult times going on in our country that’s in most every consumers mind. Services towards large companies either for retail, or use in their retail, employs a lot of extruding companies.

Recycling is a huge reason people either have taken a look or need to take a look within these manufacturers. All scraps or any left residue most of the time cane be melted down and re used. An endless cycle of reusable beneficial products that can always be produced sounds like something that would come in handy.

For construction purposes traffic cones, traffic barricades, and PVC piping are widely manufactured from companies servicing those specific areas. If you take the time to realize the abundance of these you see on a daily basis brings hope it will stay that way and increase. Who knows maybe full body plastic cars will be on the market soon.

Gathering all the information displayed investing time and money into something else besides metal or glass products. The process is simpler and more cost efficient. It’s a newer idea that just broadened over the past 20 years and is here to stay. Large plastic sheeting for a wide variety of uses is a reason people keep coming back to these extrusion businesses.…

Hire the Contract Manufacturer for the Best Benefits

Contract manufacturing provides a two-way benefit. For the manufacturers it allows them to have a steady work or assignment and enjoy a financial stability. For the clients, they can do away with the extra expense for facilities, production and skilled people. Unsurprisingly, there are various industries-such as personal care, medical supplies, automobile, and electronics and so on-which depend on contract work. There are more benefits than meet the eye in this kind of manufacturing, which has been regarded as the maximization of profit for both the parties.

Production facilities, equipments, materials, and labor are some of the elements that come with contract manufacturing. These are necessary to produce a line of goods for the clients, who can focus on their business and leave the headache for manufacturing to the contractors. Sometimes even the distribution is handled by the manufacturer. As long as the work orders keep flowing in, it is no issue for a contractor manufacturer to give the credit of the process and the product to a client. On the other hand, there is a disadvantage if the work process is ever outsourced to a wrong company. This might be costly and time-consuming. Yet a careful and professional approach can imply only there are just the plus points without the downside.

To take an example from contract manufacturing related with medical supplies, it is suggested that a client must approach the certified contractors with a standard work process. For an initial check, a client can see if the manufacturer has an ISO certification, meets the cGMP requirements and follows the set of Standard Operation Procedure. Then there can be an inspection of the facilities, equipments and materials and the like.

Vitamins and tablet packaging is an example of outsourced work in the medical packaging industry. The packaging can be done in different style: it can be either with foil seals or pressure sensitive seals, for example. Blister pack is the most popular choice for tablet packaging. There are several contract manufacturers which offer a high performance, cost-effective solution for pharmaceutical packaging needs.

For the manufacturers it is always necessary to deliver quality in the competitive market. This can also ensure their constant flow of work and in turn, a profitable business. The clients can always look for the best solution provider to cut cost and get the best quality products and services. It should be a win-win situation for all.…

Manufacturing You

3D printing is a very interesting form of manufacturing technology in my opinion. With it come a variety of applications which can change a large variety of industries in the world, including the consumer industry. I want to highlight one of the applications which involve the creation of custom dolls, action figures, and bobble heads – all of which use 3D printing & YOU. This manufacturing process allows for the manufacturing of you.

Before I jump into the applications, I want to briefly cover what 3D printing actually is. To say it plain and simple, 3D printing is the layer by layer creation of products, sometimes referred to as additive manufacturing. The actual process of 3D printing involves a designer or artist actually designing a piece to be manufactured through a 3D image. The printer itself will have to call upon a design of some kind to create a product. These products are made layer by layer by these machines known as 3D printers. The 3D printers themselves will actually call upon the designs, as they act as a blueprint. The systems that these printers follow are known as CAM systems, or computer aided manufacturing systems. In a nut shell, this means the computer within the machine will tell the machine where to start creating these products. When it comes down to actually creating the product, the printer will have to lay down layers of material on a build tray. These layers are laid down at detail levels as high as 11 microns, which is about a fourth of the diameter of a human hair – that’s a pretty high resolution!

There are all sorts of applications that come about from this manufacturing technology. One of these applications is truly custom products. Some of these products revolve heavily on you, the consumer. Some of these companies that work with 3d printing revolve around the actual design and recognition of customers’ faces, bodies, and attributes. What do I mean when I say this? Well, businesses are beginning to use software, 3D scanning, and modeling to recreate YOU as a customer. Some businesses revolve around 3D printed bobble heads. Others work around 3D printed action figures. Some offer 3D printed dolls. There are quite a few possibilities when it comes down to actually being able to replicate a person. Just keep that in mind when shopping for the next Christmas gift – you can print someone as an action figure! Pretty cool right?

On top of this, there are some other cool advancements coming along through the world of 3d printing. One of the applications I want to talk about is organ replication. That’s right, recreating organs. Anthony Atala and his team are working to reproduce organs through 3D printing! This process works well so far with simple organs, like bladders. Skin has also been replicated, and parts of kidneys have also worked. Essentially, this process involves doctors extracting cells from a patient, and laying them down layer by layer in certain patterns, which resemble certain organs, and then having them generate. More is definitely on its way when discussing 3d printing; there are already quite a few ways to print… you.…

Medical and Pharmaceutical Manufacturing in Minneapolis

The medical and pharmaceutical industries are among the few industries that continue to manufacture domestically rather than overseas. Complexity of product, stringent quality requirements, certification and documentation requirements are some of the reasons that companies choose to keep manufacturing in the US. Medical Device OEMS need to have maximum assurance that their supplier is conforming to exact product specifications and standards. The Minneapolis/St. Paul area is ideal for medical and pharmaceutical manufacturing for the following reasons:

Convenient location

Supportive of high technology manufacturing

Local resources with demonstrated capability to meet stringent quality requirements

Adequate supply of a technically competent work force

Cost effective manufacturing

The Twin Cities is centrally located in the US and has a major airport with access to light rail. There are plenty of hotels that will meet any taste or price within 10 miles of the airport. The airport is rated the 15th busiest airport in the nation yet convenient as it has plenty of flights, but not the overcrowding issues that the larger airports have. In general, airline costs to fly in and out of Minneapolis is well below the national average.

Minneapolis is considered one of the hot bed locations for Medical and Pharmaceutical manufacturing. Medtronic, St. Jude Medical, Boston Scientific, Upsher-Smith Laboratories and Cargill are just a few of the major companies located in this area. Rochester Mayo Clinic is located about 60 miles south of the Twin Cities and the University of Minnesota is located right in the heart of Minneapolis. There are 100s of ISO certified and FDA registered suppliers in this area that can support any medical device manufacturing requirement. Any manufacturer who locates in Minneapolis/ St. Paul area will have a vast network of world class local suppliers and resources to support their needs.

Minneapolis is ideal for attracting high caliber employees. This area is highly rated for its quality of life. Eden Prairie MN and Chanhassen MN are rated among the best places to live in the USA. The area is full of museums, cultural centers, theaters, and clubs with music and entertainment. Sports enthusiasts have plenty to choose from as there are professional sports teams in football, basketball, hockey, and baseball. The outdoor enthusiasts will enjoy parks with biking/ hiking trails, lakes, rivers and some of the best hunting and fishing just an hour’s drive away. Minnesota is highly rated for its education system with award winning colleges throughout the area. One would have little trouble finding highly trained talent to fill skilled positions in manufacturing.

In summary, the Minneapolis/St. Paul area is an ideal location for medical or pharmaceutical manufacturing as it has great infrastructure support, high caliber suppliers and a technically sophisticated workforce that is available at reasonable costs.…

Technology Manufacturing Contracts: Don’t Start Work Without ‘Em

Below are a few key terms that may be clarified in such agreements.

Product and Pricing. Naturally, the agreement should include precise descriptions of the product, packaging and pricing, including design, specifications, materials, components, logos, and so forth. Such items are best described in addendums to the agreement, so they may be easily modified as needed. The agreement may also describe the process for making any price adjustments.

Quality and Inspections. The agreement should specify all governmental, environmental, industry, compatibility and customer quality requirements to be complied with, as well as required testing and certifications. It may permit quality audits by the customer (the customer may outsource that task if needed) and should clearly describe inspection rights and remedies for non-conforming products.

Forecasts and Volume. The manufacturer will want binding, rolling forecasts and a guaranteed minimum purchasing volume. The customer will typically provide only non-binding forecasts and will refuse to commit to a particular volume. Various compromises are possible.

Orders & Delivery. The agreement should describe placement and acceptance of orders, minimum order quantity, delivery terms, and respective rights and remedies concerning cancelation, modification or re-scheduling delivery of orders, all prime areas for potential disputes.

Intellectual Property. The agreement may state that each party’s Background IP shall remain its own property and may place restrictions on use of the customer’s trademarks and trade names.

Warranties and Indemnification. Usually, the manufacturer will be required to warrant that the goods comply with the specifications and are free from defects, and to provide spare parts and service for a certain period. The manufacturer will also, typically, agree to indemnify the customer in the event any goods are accused of intellectual property infringement. Such provisions are critical, but both parties have substantial room for negotiating the exact terms and any exceptions.

Term and Termination. The agreement should allow for termination immediately in the event of bankruptcy, or after a certain notice period in the event of default. The challenge is allowing for termination at will, while providing the other party with reasonable protection against resulting damages. In particular, the manufacturer may demand compensation for long lead-time parts or un-purchased inventory that fell within the customer’s forecasts.

Dispute Resolution. As with all contracts, the agreement should specify jurisdiction, venue, governing law and possibly alternative dispute resolution procedures in the event of a dispute.

The above list is not comprehensive, but just a sampling of important issues that may be nailed down in a manufacturing agreement, to simplify the resolution of future disputes. Once the business people reach agreement on the key points, they should call in Legal to ensure that all is stated clearly in an agreement and nothing is missed.

Finally, as the business team will be eager to move forward with the manufacturing, Legal should follow up to ensure that both parties sign the agreement and it is filed in a secure location.…