Incremental improvement: A worked example [Video]

Increasing productivity and quality is often about small changes in adhesives, sealants and masking applications. Here, Peter Swanson, Founder and Executive Chair of adhesives and dispensing equipment specialist Intertronics, shares a hypothetical worked example of a dispense progression from simple manual dispensing to semi-automated bulk dispensing.

For this example, I am the founder and Managing Director of a small electronics business. After a year of research and development, I am happy with how my product looks so I take it to market.  

The process involves temporarily masking a PCB before a conformal coating process. I contact an adhesives supplier to help me choose a suitable liquid mask. I don’t know if the product will take off, so they support me in devising an affordable process that involves dispensing a maskant using a Quantx syringe and manual plunger.

My initial product launch goes well and soon gathers many small customers. I …