Design & Manufacture for Sustainability
At Ultrapolymers sustainability starts with design. From these first days of developing a new product, your sustainability goals influence every decision you make.
Whether you’re looking to light-weight a component, design for disassembly, reduce carbon footprint or build for durability, these outcomes are best thought of from product conception to achieve optimal results.
Concept & Design
There are many ways to consider sustainability with plastic components and different clients and industries tackle it in unique ways. The one thing that everyone can agree on is that considering sustainability in the earliest stages is the best way to exert maximum influence on its environmental impact.
In the early days of a project, it is important to establish your sustainability criteria, how you will measure the sustainability of your project and convey your message to the consumer.
Designing for sustainability takes many forms including making your product more durable, designing for disassembly at end of life, minimising components, or reducing the number of materials being used.
It is critical to consider the industry you are in when defining sustainable objectives. In some industries, where strict regulatory requirements are in play, your scope for material selection can be restricted. In these areas it’s important to engage with all stakeholders to consider ways in which you can have the most positive impact, be this a move to monomaterial solutions of bioattributed or advanced recycling options.
Simulation Analysis
What if we could tell you about your products production issues and areas of concern before you cut steel? Well that is a reality with Simulation tools such as Moldex3D. Our experienced Simulation Team are able to work with you to simulate your process based on your latest design, material of choice and your machine capabilities to highlight how we can alleviate any potential functional issues or how subtle tweaks to the design could markedly improve the production process of a part reducing not only cycle time but potential for quality issues.
Not only can these simulations be performed with virgin polymers, we can also run these analyses with recycled polymers. Extrapolating this more widely into FEA tools, we are able to share an insight on how we can meet a component's mechanical requirements.
Investment by Ultrapolymers in these tools underpins our belief in the importance of collaboration between all project stakeholders to achieve an optimal result. With our wealth of materials and simulation experience we can partner with designers, toolmakers, converters and end users to offer a valuable insight into your component. The Ultrapolymers team can give you the confidence that your part will run smoothly in your machine and be a solution for your components.
Tooling & Trials
Sustainability isn’t just about the material and the design itself. Dialling in a production with the most efficient process is a significant way to reduce the environmental impact of a part's production. Through our experienced Technical Service team, Ultrapolymers are able to support our key clients in finding the most optimal process settings for their products to minimise cycle time, barrel temperatures and other factors which impact on embedded energy introduced through processing.
Utilising our simulation tools and our experienced team we can work with you to optimise your process to make your product more sustainable and cost effective.
With an experienced sales team and a pan-European technical service, we can offer virtual or on site insight, no matter where you are based.
No matter the support you require Ultrapolymers are here to help, just #AskUltra.
Production
There are many ways to analyse the sustainability of production. This can include further optimising of the process to minimise energy use and cycle time, reducing scrap generation, or streamlining production through JIT (just in time) deliveries. All of which can have a positive impact on production sustainability.
These benefits not only offer sustainable and environmental benefits but also increase the profitability making it a win win situation. Streamlining supply allows our customers to operate with lower stock levels, reducing the risk of ‘old stock’ needing to be scrapped as well as allowing the whole supply chain to be more nimble. Through consolidated deliveries Ultrapolymers can leverage our extensive logistics network to ensure our customers have the material they need when they want it.
By selecting materials which meet your needs now and in the future we are able to give you the confidence to streamline your supply chain and production all down to efforts earlier in the development process.
In Conclusion...
To have the greatest impact on the sustainable attributes of your products you must start building this in at the design stage. As a technical polymer distributor with a comprehensive array of sustainable solutions, bolstered by a strong technical support and experienced sales team, Ultrapolymers is an ideal partner in your pursuit of a more sustainable future for your products and production processes.
To learn more, please contact your Ultrapolymers Account Manager or reach out to the office listed below.
