Solving Customer Dilemmas With Fast, Creative Solutions

Adhesives are often used in appliance manufacturing to solve a range of design challenges, including structural bonding, threadlocking, thermal management, wire bonding and sealing. The ability of adhesives to bond dissimilar materials, reduce component inventory and decrease total manufacturing costs has enabled the production of many appliance designs that would be impossible or cost-prohibitive using only mechanical-fastening methods.

This article discusses how Venture Tape 1153, a scrim-reinforced acrylic-transfer film tape designed for high-stress bonding applications, was able to solve a customer's problem with fast results. Introduced earlier this year, the product was the result of a development cycle that involved design teams and product personnel from both the customer and the manufacturer.

Customer Goals Key

Source One, an Australian converter, was seeking an alternative to a spray adhesive it was using. The work progressed to a point where the company began production with a 75-micron-thick scrim-reinforced transfer tape. Due to poor performance and product quality, the converter began looking for alternative tape manufacturers to develop a reinforced transfer. After initial contact with Venture Tape, personnel from Venture Tape's manufacturing, R&D, marketing and product groups met with the converter's product team, including a design engineer and procurement personnel.

"The customer was using a reinforced transfer adhesive with a lower adhesive value than they wanted for the product application," explains Gary Litman, Venture Tape Corp. technical director. "They were looking for a 75-micron-thick scrim-reinforced transfer adhesive that could provide a permanent bond under a variety of environmental conditions."

After obtaining samples of the material they were trying to bond to, Litman and his staff ran multiple tests on a variety of adhesives in the Application Testing Lab. "We basically did a number of tests to determine which one provided the best adhesion to the substrate," he said. "Working with the customer's parameters and performance criteria, we made initial samples. The customer tested these prototypes and we moved to the next phase, which involved taking the lab-constructed version of the product and replicating it on the production line. We then sent the product to the customer, who evaluated it under full-scale production conditions. They liked how it performed, and we went into production almost immediately."

The result: 16 weeks after testing initial samples, Venture Tape shipped the new product, Venture Tape 1153, to the customer. The transfer film, which bonds to most common materials, is used for laminating and has significant dimensional stability. This particular attribute was critical for the customer's specified use of applying appliance insulation. In addition to this application, the product meets most automotive adhesive requirements.

Cross-Functional Design Teams Create Win-Win

"This product is a good example of the customer-driven nature of our R&D team at Venture Tape," says Brad Mingels, Venture Tape Marketing director.

"Cross-functional design teams from Venture Tape and Source One worked closely to determine specifications for a pressure sensitive film tape that was resilient and versatile," he explains. "We communicated regularly to make sure we were all moving in the same direction. The result, we're happy to say, was an unusually speedy turnaround from concept to product delivery."

"At Venture Tape, we pride ourselves on developing solutions to fit customer needs," says President Lew Cohen. "We cut our teeth on developing customized products for niche markets and have the ability to offer both customized and standard products to customers worldwide."

Venture Tape Corp., Rockland, MA, recently observed its 25th anniversary. The company manufactures over 1,000 standard and customized adhesive products for a number of industries, including aerospace, automotive, construction, glazing, HVAC, industrial, insulation, marine, medical, optical, shielding, splicing, and stained glass. It has warehouses and sales offices in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Italy, Germany, Australia, the Netherlands, and Singapore. The company recently received ISO 9001:2000 certification. For more information, phone (800) 343-1076 or 0-800-962-957 in the United Kingdom, or visit www.venturetape.com.