by Shane Vandekerkhof, consultant/trainer, RJG, Inc. When we ask customers what their most pressing quality issues are, short shots or non-filled parts are inevitably on the list. So why don't we start by defining a short shot. A short shot is when a plastic part does not completely fill out. A portion of it is missing. A few issues can cause shorts, and the fix is not always … [Read more...] about What’s the Deal with Short Shots?
Quality
A Quality Responsible Business Model
by Rod Bricker, PRISM Plastics At PRISM Plastics, all of the company's machines are identical, uniform and interchangeable across its three facilities in Chesterfield, Michigan; Port Huron, Michigan; and Harlingen, Texas. The vast majority of plastics manufacturers view their quality control department as an essential tool to ensure quality, precision and consistent, … [Read more...] about A Quality Responsible Business Model
Ensuring Product Purity in Plastic Recycling
by Don Suderman, Bunting Magnetics Co. Product purity is an extremely important consideration in plastic recycling. Whether processing is done for in-house production or regrind is prepared for resale, a major factor in achieving product purity is eliminating metal contamination. Removing metal from recycled plastic cannot be done with a single piece of equipment, but requires … [Read more...] about Ensuring Product Purity in Plastic Recycling
DOE Brings Benefits to Process Design
by Perry Parendo, Perry's Solutions, Inc. After decades of working with multiple industries, I have found only one developmental tool that works when things are not going as expected. That tool is Design of Experiments (DOE). It is a statistically based tool that allows evaluation of simultaneous input variables and the impact they have on contradictory requirements. When … [Read more...] about DOE Brings Benefits to Process Design
Plastikos Journeys Through ISO 14001 Certification
by Melissa DeDonder Issues concerning worker health and safety have been thrust into the national spotlight recently, following the audit of one of Apple's key suppliers, the Foxconn manufacturing facility in China. "Because Apple is a leader in the marketplace, many other manufacturers are taking note," said Philip Katen, president and general manager of Plastikos, Inc. … [Read more...] about Plastikos Journeys Through ISO 14001 Certification