Quality Control & Foam Production or How product quality control affects the reduction of costs for rework and defects in the production of polyethylene and polypropylene foam.
The amount of “saved” profit of the company directly depends on an effectively built quality control system and technological processes in the production of foamed polyethylene and polypropylene. The quality service department and qualified process engineers in a company engaged in the production of products from foamed polymers are in no way inferior in importance to other departments, such as the production department or the sales department.
The quality service is a controller independent of production indicators, ensuring the predictability of the work of the production unit and compliance with established indicators. Yes, the productivity and efficiency of a production unit is considered by the volume of quality products shipped that meet all stated requirements, and not by the speed and volume of products arriving from production to the warehouse.
Proper organization of quality control and regulation of technological processes for the production of polyethylene and polypropylene foam allows the company to save tens of thousands of dollars annually.
Have you ever wondered how much 1 m2 of defective products costs a company?
For example, the cost of producing 1 m2 of scrap polyethylene foam (PE foam) 5 mm thick (20 kg/m3), processed into secondary raw materials, will cost the company approximately 0.2 euro/m2, and the cost of producing scrap 10 mm thick is approximately 0.43 euro/m2.
Based on this, the cost of 1 kg of defective polyethylene foam (PE foam) products processed into secondary raw materials will cost the company approximately 2.23 euro, which is on average 55% more expensive than the cost of 1 kg of the mixture primary (raw materials and technological additives) in the standard production recipe, foamed polyethylene 5-10 mm thick with a density of 20 kg/m3.
In addition, manufacturing defects have a significant impact on the productivity of the production unit as a whole, as unplanned “overproduction” becomes necessary.
It is for this reason that standardization of production processes and monitoring of product quality indicators are one of the most important processes in a manufacturing company.
The production of foamed polymers is no exception to the rule, and there are also mandatory criteria for monitoring technological processes, both during the production process and during storage of products, which minimizes the risk of receiving defective finished products. Unfortunately, many companies put this aside because they mistakenly believe that it does not impact the overall performance of the company that critically.
- But how to build a quality control system on the production of foamed polyethylene (PE foam) and polypropylene (PP foam)?
- Where to start and how to understand which benchmarks should be strictly regulated?
- How to develop standard operating procedures and train engineers and production technologists?
Our Italian Foam Center will help you answer these questions and organize all technological and production processes for the production of foamed polyethylene and polypropylene.
Undoubtedly, the technology of physically foamed non-cross-linked polyethylene and polypropylene is an ideal polymer production technology from a closed-loop point of view, but it is still much more profitable to work with minimal risks of receiving defective products.