Dyna-Tek’s Mold (tooling) Sealer and Release Coatings are counted on to consistently release a broad range of carbon-fiber composite parts; some of which are up to 150 feet in length. These parts can take days of work before they are ready to be pulled from the Tooling used to form and fabricated them. As a result, it is imperative for us to be able to confidently guarantee identical coating products from batch to batch.
Our newest tool for achieving this expectation is the addition of two new, research-grade Thermo-Nicolet iS10 Fourier Transformation Infrared (FTIR) spectrometers. One of these units has been dedicated full-time to our Quality Assurance Dept; who has nicknamed it “Nicki”.
Nicki
Nicki is able to identify down to the molecular level all resins and other organic additives that comprise any chemistry it analyzes, and in doing so she produces an identifiable signature “fingerprint” of sorts unique for that chemistry. As a result, we can identify any deviations from what our “approved” coatings should look like using this analysis.
That said, our Quality Management System (QMS) has been expanded to use Nicki at 5-points in our overall manufacturing process cycle. Dyna-Tek’s 5-point certification process now starts with certifying in-house; all incoming supply-chain ingredients, two more points in our production process, and again just prior to dispensing into final containers. For good measure, we then hold back three samples from each shipment and re-analyze them once per month for 18 months.
All of this data will then be tracked, stored and available in the event there is a need for traceability and root-cause analysis.
Nicki’s twin, our second Thermo-Nicolet iS10 (not nicknamed yet) will be used for a variety of R&D functions and our on-going quest for continuous improvements.
For more information on these capabilities, please feel free to reach out to Jim Stuelke, CEO of Dyna-Tek via email jims@dyna-tek.com or call him directly at 816.381.9690.
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