Since 1977, the B.B. Bradley Company has supplied its customers with high quality, cost-effective product protection and plastic foam products.
Recently a new customer showed us a foam insert that was die cut. Unfortunately, for this customer, the part’s finish was too coarse for the application. One of the biggest issues was the serrated edge of the die causing the cross-linked polyethylene material to tear. This resulted in a rough surface as well as foam debris in the cavity of the insert. It ended up getting inside the customer’s product jeopardizing the overall performance of the customer’s part.
Die Cut
Our suggestion was to change the manufacturing process to waterjet cutting. The waterjet process creates a cleaner finished insert. It maintains the tight tolerances required of the cavities without significantly changing the overall cost. In fact, for this application, it did not change the price at all. Die cutting is generally a process with quicker output and often lower costs. In this particular case it didn’t satisfy all of the customer’s requirements.
Waterjet
While selecting the correct material in an application is very important, the methods used in making the part can be equally as critical.
The B.B. Bradley Company prides itself on its ability to satisfy your product protection applications with functional and economical packaging solutions.