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Thecomplexityandsizeoftoday'ssupplychaincontributestorecalls, particularlyintheautomotiveindustry. Asthesaying

går, thesupplychainisonlyasgoodasitsweakestlink. Plasticshavebecomeubiquitousintheautomotiveindustry, som

OEMspushtheboundariesofwhat'spossibletomeettheCorporateAverageFuelEconomystandards. Infact, asnotedby

SPI:Theplasticsindustrytradeassociation(Washington,DC), plasticsmakeup50% ofthevolumeofacarbutcontribute

only10% ofthetotalweight.
JeffJansen, SR, ManagingEngineerwiththeMadisonGroup (Madison, WI), aconsultingfirmforpolymersandtheplastics

industryspecializinginfailureanalysisandqualitycontrol (QC), usesavarietyofanalyticalinstrumentationtocharacterize

polymersandplastics. Jansennotedthatfailureanalysis, failurepreventionandmaterialqualificationandevaluationarehans

clients'primaryareasofconcern. I tillegg hiscompanyprovidesassistancewithmaterialselectionandpredictionand

processdevelopment, includinghowthemoldingoperationperforms." WeworkpredominantlywithOEMsandmoldersin

termsofprocessdevelopment, "JansentoldPlasticsToday." Iliketoseeapartnershipbetweenthedesigner, moldmakerog

materialspeople. Tohavethematerialselectedinconcretebeforeyougotothemolderandmoldmakerisamistake.We

oftengetinvolvedinacollaborativeefforttohelpselectaresin, andifwe'rehiredbythemolderwehaveexposuretothe

OEM. Ifwe'rehiredbytheOEM, wehaveexposuretotheresinsupplierandthemolder." TheMadisonGroupworkswith

severalmajorindustries, includingmedicalandautomotive. Jansensaidthecomplexitycomeswithgovernmentregulations,

andintheautomotiveindustrytheOEMshavealotofrulesinplace, suchaswhenPPAP [productionpartapprovalprocess]

willhappen." Betweencompanyguidelinesandfederalregulationstherecanbequiteafewhurdlestoapprovingamaterial

orimplementinganewmaterial,"Jansennoted.HeaddedthattherearethreemajorareaswheretheMadisonGrouphelps

qualifynewresins:Whenanoldresinisdiscontinued; whenanewproductisbeingdeveloped; andinthecaseoffailure

whenthecompanyidentifiesthataresinisn'trightforanapplication." Itcanbeverydifficulttoselectanewresiniftheone

inuseisbeingdiscontinued, "saidJansen." It'stimesensitive, whichmandatesthatyouneedtomovequicklytogetanew

harpiks. Qualifyingaresinforanewproductindevelopmentiseasierbecauseoftenyoudon'thavethetimecrunch." Thermo

FisherScientific (Waltham, MA) isamanufacturerofscientificinstrumentsthatincludeinfraredandRamanspectrometers,

rheometers, X-rayphotoelectronspectrometers (XPS), energydispersivex-rayspectrometers (EDS) andscanningelectron

microscopes(SEM).ThermoFisherScientificinstrumentsareusedinawiderangeofindustries, notjustautomotive,

includingconsumerproducts, høy-techelectronicequipment, chemicalsandpharmaceuticals. Thesesystemsareused

overmanyapplicationsineverythingfromRandamp, D, productdevelopment, analyticalservicesandqualitycontrol.