Page 30 - Industrial Technology magazine February 2021 issue

DESIGN ENGINEERING

ADHESIVE INVESTMENT

FASTENERS & ADHESIVES

ONE OF THE MAJOR CONSIDERATIONS WHEN SPECIFYING
AN ADHESIVE IS HOW QUICKLY IT WILL DELIVER RETURN
ON INVESTMENT (ROI), A METRIC THAT IS AFFECTED BY A
VARIETY OF TANGIBLE AND INTANGIBLE FACTORS. HERE
MATTHEW BASELEY, TECHNICAL SALES EXECUTIVE AT
ADHESIVES SPECIALIST INTERTRONICS, EXPLAINS THE
CONSIDERATIONS THAT DETERMINE RETURN ON
INVESTMENT IN AN ADHESIVES PROCESS.

f you’ve ever tried to source an adhesive for your Precision offers payback
application, you probably realised quickly that there is It has been said that the UK is up to
no universally perfect adhesive. Everything from the 20 per cent less productive than its
Isubstrates you’re bonding, operating temperature and major competitor countries because it
humidity, to the exposure of the assembly to solvents, is not investing in automation. In
weather and mechanical stress, will influence your choice general, UK manufacturing doesn’t
of adhesive. invest in capital automation
It is worth understanding that the adhesive choice will equipment because it is perceived as
only be one component of the full bonding process – expensive and risky. But while the
which includes surface preparation, adhesive mixing, upfront cost of automation may not
application and dispensing, curing and QA – and that it is seem necessary for small batch
in this entire process that you are investing. It is important adhesive assembly operations –
to take a holistic view; for example, application and curing where manual mixing and application
equipment costs, and efficiency of method, are factors are deemed sufficient – for even
that will affect an ROI calculation and so allow moderate volume applications, the
comparison to other options. investment can result in better yield
We think of ROI as a measure of how fast we get our and better quality.
money back after making an investment. For a bonding The accuracy and repeatability achieved using robotic runaway event leading to catastrophic failure of the
process, an investment in equipment can be justified by dispensing or automated adhesive mixing lowers process device.
improvements in the method, or savings in resources like variability. By reducing human error and increasing The company had to work hard to mitigate brand
labour, energy or space. However, there are many hidden, precision, you can lower scrappage rates and material damage, allocating some 700 engineers and a dedicated
intangible benefits that come with suitable investment – waste. The labour cost element is often reduced, as facility to investigating the 35 official complaints received,
ones that go beyond the headline ROI figure. operators are reallocated to more productive work working with regulatory bodies to publish results of the
(possibly with upskilling). Adhesive dispensing robots are investigation. The impact to the brand was significant; in
Determining ROI available for surprisingly modest costs, and factoring all the third quarter of 2016, Samsung projected a 33% fall
There is always a compromise to be made in adhesive the advantages of automation usually results in a quick in operating profits compared with the previous quarter,
specification, and that is often between ultimate adhesive ROI. with analysts estimating a loss of $17bn in revenue from
functionality and optimal bonding process. The very best It’s important to note that the collective improvement the production and recall of the device.
bond strength may come from an adhesive with a in all these areas; from throughput and standardisation, to
complicated preparation requirement and an extensive quality and yield, has an impact on the business that goes Non-tangible processes
cure time; but that may not be suitable for the proposed well beyond the tangible measurables. It is ultimately the Although it is difficult to say whether the design flaw could
production volumes or speed of manufacture. Sometimes imperceptible improvement in your brand and reputation have been caught with better testing and QA processes,
this dilemma stems from over-specifying the adhesive that leaves a lasting impact in the mind of your customer. the company’s subsequent handling of the crisis allowed
requirements, which limits material choice and so can add Warren Buffet famously quipped that, “It takes 20 it to recover its reputation. The story goes to show that
cost. Factoring in adhesive “process-ability” can ultimately years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If investment in non-tangible processes such as quality
deliver a faster ROI, without compromising on quality. you think about that, you'll do things differently.” While assurance, worker training and customer service, all have
For example, while the upfront cost of UV light-curing Buffet was advising people to act with integrity, it’s a role in preventing problems before they occur, and if
equipment may be higher than a process using an similarly true that bad experiences, whether it’s bond things still go wrong, they allow businesses to be better
adhesive that cures at room temperature over time, the failure in the field, inconsistent lead times as a result of positioned to recover.
increased throughput achieved with on-demand curing – process inefficiency, or poor-quality finishing will have a Thinking about the return on investment for a new
seconds, rather than minutes or hours – may well offer a lasting impact on your customers. bonding application or improvement of an existing one
much shorter payback period. For example, in 2016, Samsung had to halt involves a comprehensive consideration of the entire
In fact, when a UV light cure systems technology is production of its Galaxy Note 7 and initially recall some process. A higher initial investment can lead to a faster
looked at as an integral part of a full production process – 2.5 million phones after reports that the device was ROI. In addition, investing in a robust, reliable and
across inventory, dispensing, curing and quality assurance overheating and catching fire. It transpired that the corner repeatable process can have a lasting, intangible
– it can lead to an average of 30% savings in overall of the case was too small for the battery, causing the impact on your brand.
process costs. electrodes to bend and short circuit, initiating a thermal MORE INFORMATION: www.intertronics.co.uk

30 INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGY • January/February 2021