First, inquiry

　　It refers to communicating with customers, understanding, and asking them about new material requirements. It is recommended that the supplier's engineers or experienced business personnel communicate with the customer's relevant engineering and technical personnel to ensure the accuracy of communication information.

　　In terms of TPE|TPR cover material, generally as a TPE supplier, we have to ask some information as follows.

　　Inquiry 1. what products to do, used in what industry?

　　This question is mainly to understand the customer's product application industry, through the understanding of the product belongs to the industry, you can assess the material certain special physical properties and environmental requirements of further information communication. For example, the automotive industry requires low VOC and low odor materials, and the kitchenware industry requires food contact materials, etc.

　　Inquiry 2. What kind of hard plastics are used for overmolding and bonding?

　　Different hard plastics usually have different physical requirements for TPE|TPR material. For example, for PP, ABS/PC and nylon, the type of TPE|TPR material used is different.

　　How many degrees of hardness of TPE, TPR material?

　　Hardness is the basic index, generally speaking, customers will provide a material hardness.

　　Inquiry 4. Provide OK sample

　　Provide samples is to reconfirm the inquiry 2 and 3, try to provide OK samples, so that it makes sense. In many cases, looking at the physical samples is more accurate than verbal communication to grasp the material requirements. By analyzing the physical samples, we can have a clearer understanding of the material's exact hardness, product structure, cladding thickness, approximate flow length ratio, appearance performance, surface scratch resistance, etc. These are the next important basis for the second part of the process.

　　Second, choose

　　Choose, that is, choose the appropriate TPE, TPR grade. According to the first part of the inquiry with the customer to understand the details, the engineer and then combined with their own experience, the basic can be suitable TPE, TPR grade recommendation. Generally speaking, as long as the information communication is accurate, the success rate of one trial sample of the material is more than 80%. Of course, there are times when the established TPE,TPR grades do not necessarily meet the requirements of new products, which requires TPE suppliers to adjust the new material formulations, customizing special TPE blends. However, this has higher requirements for TPE manufacturers new material development and innovation capabilities.

　　Third, try

　　After choosing a good material, the next step is to test the mold to confirm the material. Supplier material engineers will give a suggested overmolding temperature. According to the structure of the overmolded products and hard plastic material performance differences, for overmolding injection pressure, injection speed, etc., sometimes need to make appropriate adjustments. In order to ensure the basic adhesion and at the same time, the product has good appearance quality.

　　If the mold test is OK, the trilogy is over and the material selection confirmation is successfully completed. If the mold test is not OK, the reasons should be analyzed one by one from the three aspects of inquiry, selection and test. For some special requirements of the product, there may be technical bottlenecks for the material. For example, the package POM, for the current domestic TPE manufacturers, the technology is a hurdle that can not be overcome. For products with precise dimensional requirements, it is recommended to confirm the shrinkage rate of the material to the TPE supplier before opening the mold! The general shrinkage rate of TPE is 1.5~2%.