CUSTOMER IDEA:    A major boat manufacturer came to Budnick and wanted to create a solution for some quality issues it was having with its below water-line through-holes.  They were using gunnable, silicone sealants.  Some of the issues they were having were:

-It disappeared so it was hard to tell how much was put on
-The liquid became dirty giving an unprofessional look
-The liquid did not seal completely once the fastener was torqued in place
-There was too much 'set up' time involved with the liquid
-It was time consuming to clean up the liquid for cosmetic reasons

BUDNICK SOLUTION:  These were some major concerns.  They effected the final vessels' quality, image and cost.  Budnick looked at the situation based on the needs of the application.  We asked:

-What is the compression set?
-Does it need to be resistance to salt water, gas & oil?
-Does it need to be UV resistant?
-Can we get something with more f flexibility compared to the silicone sealant (RTV)?
-Can we provide something that s stays in place over time, unlike the gunnable materials?
-Can we match the color of the material so that it did not stick out against the color of the boat? (In this case, light gray)

Typical PVC through-hole bolts with new silicone foam die cut foam gaskets

ENHANCED PRODUCTIVITY:  The benefits to the customer were many.  They were now using a more flexible material, with no cure times.  This solutions provided a complete seal against the elements, while forfeiting less cleanup and rework issues as compared to liquid.  They saw definite labor savings, and the versatility of the die cut gaskets allowed the customer to utilize them across product lines.

CUSTOMER IDEA:  Due to poor foam-in-place air/gas ventilation, the customer experienced over $3,000 per day in quality conformance waste.  Their current supplier was unable to design or produce a venting tape that was permeable enough to draw foam completely throughout their part's cavity.  Poor ventilation resulted in foam voids.  These voids caused poor insulation values, condensation, insufficient foam cure and quality rejections.

BUDNICK SOLUTION:  The Budnick team performed a LEADR Focused Process Review.  By working with the customer's production crew, the team was able to identify production needs beyond the immediate product failure.  Budnick application engineers then sourced a more permeable venting material, designed "user-friendly" part dimensions, applied a custom adhesive pattern to the material and custom fabricated a dispensing system that saved production time.  To incorporate this new concept, we helped to develop dispensers with input from the operators on the line, to help remove the liner, and allow the operators to efficiently apply the parts with the same amount of speed compared to the using the roll material. We assisted in the training of the operators on all three shifts to help with any resistance to changing to these die cuts, and were successful in gaining the confidence of the operators and supervisors.

ENHANCED PRODUCTIVITY:  Budnick's AirFlow venting tape allowed more air and gas to escape while securely holding in the foam.  AirFlow reduced foam void non-conformances to less than 5% compared to the previous year of over 40% scrap rates, and lowered foam usage significantly, decreased labor hours and made tape usage measurable and consistent.  The amount of tape used for this application decreased about 50% by going to die cut parts vs. rolls compared to the previous year.  The customer indicated by going away from the rolls, and reducing the scrap rates, and the amount of foam used in the doors resulted in an  approximate savings of over $400,000 / year.

CUSTOMER IDEA:  Needed a very aggressive transfer adhesive slit to .05" wide, while maintaining a +/- .015" tolerance.

BUDNICK SOLUTION:  Budnick responded by working with a variety of machine manufacturers to develop the machinery, cutting blades and blade coolants necessary to slit to such a narrow width. Through a series of challenges and trials, Budnick perfected the process and currently is in full scale production on a number of extremely narrow width double coated tapes.

ENHANCED PRODUCTIVITY:  Budnick's partnership with vendors, as well as customers, helped to provide the total solution necessary to meet this challenge.  Customers are receiving longer length rolls than anyone could have imagined when this process began. Think of Budnick when you notice your electronic components decreasing in size and becoming less expensive.

CUSTOMER IDEA:  Needed to improve productivity on their adhesive tape laminating line.

BUDNICK SOLUTION:  Budnick spliced together 10 rolls of 500 yard tape and traverse wound them into a continuous 5,000 yd spool.

ENHANCED PRODUCTIVITY: Roll changes on the assembly line were reduced tenfold. Reduced roll changes increased line speeds, decreased substrate & tape waste and machine operators were free to work on other projects while the tape was being laminated.

CUSTOMER IDEA:  Liked the double coated adhesive system that they were using, but needed to remove long strips of release liner easily, without the liner tearing.

BUDNICK SOLUTION:  Budnick partnered with the manufacturer, Avery Dennison, to have the same adhesive system coated onto a polyester release liner. Budnick slit the jumbo rolls to the customer's desired width and created a dry edge (finger lift tab without adhesive) by scoring away a portion of the adhesive.

ENHANCED PRODUCTIVITY: The increased strength of the polyester liner eliminated quality rejections that were caused from liner tears.

CUSTOMER IDEA:  Our customer used a typical cloth duct tape, as many metal treaters do, to mask off areas during the shot peening process.  However, it was time consuming to apply the multiple layers in one particular curved area and incredibly hard to remove the multiple layers of product after the process was complete.  They wanted to increase their productivity during the mask and de-mask of their protective material.

BUDNICK SOLUTION:  Budnick has a partnership and distribution agreement with Intertape Polymer Group (IPG) to provide customers with their innovative blast masking products.  Budnick visited this customer's plant and was able to determine what exactly would work best to achieve the goals they had.  For this particular customer, Budnick created a die-cut shape of IPG's BT100 "Blast Impact" Tape.  The BT100 product could withstand the blast force that it would be subjected to, as BT100 withstands blast times up to 100 psi.  Furthermore, this product requires only one layer of application and removes cleanly, even after the shot-peening or blasting process, in one piece.   

ENHANCED PRODUCTIVITY:  By using IPG's BT100, our customer only had to apply one layer of a masking product.  Furthermore, Budnick die-cut the product to easily fit in the curved area they previously had difficulty masking off.  The die-cut meant uniform coverage and better adhesion to the curved area.  When our customer finished the shot-peening process now, BT100 removed cleanly, in one piece.  This also saved valuable time and allowed their shot-peen technicians to move on to the next item.

CUSTOMER IDEA:  One extruder we worked with was about to lose a very large customer because their taped profile was not properly adhering.  As we looked into the situation, we found that the tape worked fine adhering to the extrusion but th etape was not properly suited for th elow surface energy substrate it was being adhered to.

BUDNICK SOLUTION:  The extruder selected the original tape because they knew it worked on their extrusion, but they didn't have the tape experience to determine the right tape for the end user's application.  We found a tape that was less expensive and worked for both the extruder and the end user.

ENHANCED PRODUCTIVITY:  Budnick saved the extruder time and money by traverse winding the tape into large spools.

CUSTOMER IDEA:  A customer approached Budnick to help them increase their overall efficiency when manufacturing solar panels.  They were unsure of how tape products could be used in their production process, as they had always used silicones for permanent bonding.  However, they were interested in the possibility of replacing those time consuming products with products that cured quicker. 

We suggested conducting a LEADR Process Review with our team of converting experts to determine areas we may be able to help.

BUDNICK SOLUTION:  After conducting our LEADR Process Review, we determined a few changes that could help increase efficiency.  Instead of using silicone to permanently mount the frame or the junction box, they could use a double-sided tape.  Doing so, drastically reduced the time the company wasted waiting on the silicone to cure.  Furthermore, using such tape in a die-cut form allowed them to apply the adhesive correctly every time.  We also found that spooling tape to get longer lengths meant less time starting and stopping while applying the frame to the panel.  Finally, using tape also eliminated unnessacry silicone equipment. 

ENHANCED PRODUCTIVITY:  Due to the review of the customer's actual process and working directly with their team, we were able to see clearly areas that could be improved and determine the best customized solution to greatly increase their efficiency. 

CUSTOMER IDEA:   A customer came to Budnick with a problem.  We did not supply their magnetic stripes, but their current provider was not able to give them the quality products they needed.  They wanted advice from some of our adhesive tape experts.  Their pressure sensitive magnetic stripes would stick to the backside of the liner or the layer below and come off prematurely.  This would require our customer to stop their production line to fix the problem and discard plastic card and magnetic stripe inventory they could no longer use.  

BUDNICK SOLUTION:  Our adhesive tape converting specialists reviewed the magnetic stripe application carefully with our customer and worked closely with some of the largest manufacturers in the industry.  Their efforts created a much more consistent adhesive system that is ideally matched to the liner.   These developments plus our improved label converting process make Budnick magnetic stripe pressure sensitive adhesive labels the best product on the market today.  Due to our breadth of capabilities, we were also able to offer them spooled labels in a size that worked better with their machinery, for a very similar price. 

ENHANCED PRODUCTIVITY:  Due to the fact their labels were now offered in a spool, they needed to stop their machine less.  Furthermore, the problems they previously had did not occur and they were not stopping their machines in the middle of a run or losing valuable inventory.