Suppliers perform secondary operations and assembly services such as electro-mechanical assembly, ultrasonic and heat welding, printing, painting, bonding, and machining.
Suppliers can assist with concepts, manufacturing costs, manufacturing techniques and material considerations. Suppliers may also be able to assist in upgrading or redesigning, re-evaluating or modernizing existing products to increase performance and/or reduce manufacturing costs. Some suppliers offer material sourcing and computer aided design (CAD) modeling.
Suppliers design and produce tooling to facilitate part fabrication. Typically, extrusion uses dies through which the material is extruded or pultruded.
Suppliers provide part packaging such as tape, reel, or tray packaging for specific client requirements.
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Acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) is a hard, rigid, thermoplastic polymer. It provides good chemical and creep resistance, and dimensional stability. ABS is used in many industries, in a wide array of applications. It is generally inexpensive, although it is prone to crack when under stress. Common trade names include Cycolac (GE Plastics), Lustran (Bayer) and Novodur (Bayer).
Acrylics are a category of plastics noted for excellent transparency and clarity in its colorless forms, breakage resistance many times that of glass, and good resistance to environmental factors such as UV radiation and chemical corrosion.
Cellulose Acetate Butyrate (CAB), commonly known as Butyrate, is a cellulose ester. It is a versatile plastic with good impact resistance, machinability characteristics and suitability for secondary operations such as cementing and painting. Butyrate is often used as material for tubing and fittings. Many grades are suitable for food processing applications.
Polycarbonate is an amorphous material with excellent Impact Strength, clarity, and optical properties. Polycarbonate has excellent mechanical properties, and can be molded to tight tolerances. It is attacked by solvents and petrochemicals, and its weatherability is only adequate. Brand Names include: Caliber® (Dow), Lexan® (GE), Makrofol® and Makrolon® (Bayer).
A semi-crystalline (typically around 50%), whitish, semi-opaque commodity thermoplastic that is soft, flexible and tough - even at low temperatures - with outstanding electrical properties but poor temperature resistance. It also has very good chemical resistance but is prone to environmental stress cracking; it has poor UV resistance (unless modified) and poor barrier properties, except to water.
Polyethylene Terephthalate Glycol (PETG) is an engineered polyester resin in which glycols have been added to Polyethylene Terephthalate to modify and enhance the flow characteristics. PETG is noted for its thermoforming versatility, its impact resistance (toughness), and its retention of optical clarity after bending or forming. These properties make PETG widely used in packaging applications.
Polypropylene is a thermoplastic material exhibiting excellent cold flow, bi-axial strength, and yield elongation properties. It is similar to PVC but can be used in exposed applications because of its resistance to UV, weathering, and ozone.
Styrene or polystyrene features good structural stability, strength and good formability. Polystyrene also features good thermal and dimensional stability, and suitability for secondary operations such as cutting, machining, and decorating. It exhibits some vulnerability to degradation from UV exposure, and does not exhibit good resistance to solvents and chemicals.
Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) is an insoluble compound that exhibits a high degree of chemical resistance and a low coefficient of friction. It is sometimes marketed in proprietary classes of materials such as Teflon®, a registered trademark of DuPont Dow Elastomers.
Polyurethane is a diverse class of materials exhibiting good elongation, recovery and toughness properties. They are flexible and have good abrasion resistance. (NOTE: The urethanes of the plastics industry are so named because the repeating units of their structures resemble the chemical urethane.) Trade names include Texin® (Bayer), Adiprene® and Vibrathane® (Uniroyal Chemical), Estane® (B F Goodrich), Genthane® (General Tire and Rubber), Millathane®, and Pellethane® (Dow Chemical).
Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) is a widely used material that has good flexibility, smooth surface, and nontoxic qualities. Some grades are used in food and chemical processes due to the inert nature of PVC. Brand names include: ACP® and Dural® (Alpha Gary), Geon® (Geon), Benvic® (Solvay), Flexalloy® (Teknor Apex).
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Extruded shapes can be used in architectural or construction applications. Examples include structural members, door and window frames, decorative features, etc.
Long extrusions with a constant cross-section are used in a variety of industrial, commercial and structural applications. Advantages include high strength-to-weight ratio, minimum material waste from part machining, maximum usage of expensive materials, and decorative and appearance considerations.
Flexible tubing and hose can be extruded with customer-specified dimensions, wall thickness, and mechanical and chemical properties. Often, tubing can be made in multi-layer and special compound configurations.
Other unlisted, specialized, or proprietary extrusion application.
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Cold-working extrusion processes are performed at or near room temperature. High stresses require robust tooling. Because cold-working is a strengthening process, the worked material is not subject to the same levels of oxidation inherent in the thermal cycling associated with hot extrusion. Cold extrusion is suitable for tubing, gear blanks, etc.
Dual extrusion and multi-durometer extrusion are techniques in which materials of different hardnesses are combined in a single extrusion. A common application is the combination of a rigid material with a flexible material in one cross-section. The rigid component adds strength and structural alignment, while the flexible component may have a function such as sealing. Variations can include combining materials of different colors and laminates with varying layer properties.
Hot-working extrusion processes uses the good deformability of heated metallic or thermoplastic materials for shaping. Extrusion at elevated temperatures enables considerable changes of shape to be achieved in a single operation where otherwise shaping them is impractical. Very complex sections can be produced that are not achievable with other shaping techniques. Extrusion can also offer economic advantages in that the dies are relatively inexpensive and are interchangeable, so that one extrusion machine can be used for the production of a wide variety of sections.
In hot extrusion, a metal billet heated to the appropriate temperature is fed into the cylindrical container of the extrusion press and is forced by the action of a ram through a steel die whose orifice has the desired shape to produce the solid or hollow section. The metal emerges from the die as a continuous bar, which is cut to the required lengths. Extrusion products are therefore essentially “linear” in character, in the sense that shaping is confined to the cross section only.
Pultrusion is a manufacturing process where resin-impregnated reinforcement fibers are pulled though a heated steel die. Typically, the fibers are pulled from rolls through a resin impregnator and then through the die, where the die heat initiates curing into a solid, constant cross-section of fiber-reinforced plastic (FRP). After additional curing steps, the pultruded shape is cut to length.
Unlisted, specialized, or proprietary extrusion technique.
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Electrical discharge machining (EDM) cuts metal via discharge from an electrode. The two primary types are wire EDM, in which the electrode is a thin wire typically made of brass or other alloys, and ram EDM, in which the electrode is a specially shaped piece of graphite or copper alloy.
EDM is noted for tight dimensional tolerances and high finish quality without secondary operations such as lapping or grinding.
Printing and labeling techniques are used for inventory management and identification purposes, and include processes such as etching, stamping and screen printing.
Water jets and water abrasive jets rely on highly pressurized water (20,000 - 60,000 psi) flowing through a nozzle or "jewel" approximately 0.010" in diameter. Advantages include almost no material heating during cutting, low side loads, and ability to achieve complex shapes and tight inside radii. Low fixturing costs and fast setup and programming times make this process very suitable for prototypes or short runs. It is most widely used for two-dimensional cutting; three-dimensional machining is possible in specialty applications.
Pure water jets are typically used to cut very soft material such as fabrics or rubber; metals usually require abrasives in the stream. "Water Jet" is a generic term that is sometimes used to cover both processes.
Other unlisted or specialized secondary operations.
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AS9100 is a set of quality guidelines and requirements published by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) in cooperation with major aerospace manufacturers. It consists of ISO 9000 and additional industry requirements.
ISO 9001:2000 establishes requirements for company quality management systems. Standards range from manufacturing to services such as design, development, production, and installation.
QS-9000 is a quality standard for suppliers of DaimlerChrysler Corporation, Ford Motor Company, and General Motors Corporation. QS-9000 is based on the 1994 edition of ISO 9001, but contains additional requirements that are particular to the automotive industry. Specifically, QS-9000 applies to suppliers of production materials, production and service parts, heat treating, painting and plating and other finishing services.
Other unlisted, specialized, or proprietary certification.
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Companies are located in the Northeast United States, namely Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont.
Companies are located in the Southern United States, namely Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington D.C., and West Virginia.
Companies are located in the Midwest United States, namely Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin.
Companies have facilities in South American countries such as Argentina, Brazil, or Chile; or in Central American countries such as Costa Rica, Honduras, Panama, etc.
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