Put a smile on the FD’s face – bespoke masking from Sinclair & Rush.

A walk around the Sinclair & Rush factory on a busy industrial estate just off the M20 on the outskirts of Maidstone was all it took to fully appreciate the spread and flexibility of S&R’s dedicated plastic moulding resource.

The main site is a designer, floor to ceiling maze of tools or moulds of every conceivable size and shape. Some were manufactured for one off custom jobs and others create bread and butter caps, plugs and sleeves in volumes, called off to clients’ tight production specifications.

Left: A living museum of dip moulding tooling providing standard and bespoke masking solutions across the UK and Europe

The relative slowness of the moulds’ journey through the ovens after dipping belies the urgency of the stripping and priming process when each rack is unloaded, cleaned and readied for the next of its apparently endless cycles. QC looks on and sequentially tests the eye boggling array of plastic shapes, colours and sizes, as components are readied for despatch.

Right: compressed air blasts release the caps from the moulds after they have been dipped and baked.

Below: the image shows masking sleeves for motor manufacturing electronic components as they are raised from the dipping tanks.

Like a scene from and aged Dr Who, plastic screens part, lights flash and horns alert as large, ominous 8 cubic metre tanks of liquid plastisol are forked into holding bays. These come from the workshops across the way. Here, Sinclair & Rush manufacture and mix their own materials in colours and formulations for every conceivable plastic moulding, single and double dip, and coating requirement.

The mezzanine area over the packaging and distribution centre is the tool shop. Standard tooling is maintained and bespoke moulds created to client specification. The specialist team of engineers have extensive experience to support S&R sales engineers as they solve tricky masking problems with innovative fresh solutions.

The prep, dip, blast, pack, ship is the tip of the plastic moulding iceberg. Much goes on behind the scenes, particularly when tooling a new application. The benefits of custom precision create solutions that apply more quickly and last longer. Some may remove one or more of the expensive finishing stages altogether, speeding the entire process, saving time and improving manufacturing quality throughout.

As you know, masking is an essential part of the finishing process across a wide variety of production stages in a large range of manufacturing and engineering industries.

To keep target areas protected from liquid contamination and invasive materials, reusable caps and sleeves reduce labour intensive masking and their quality / tolerance avoids the even more costly errors leading to scrappage, re-engineering or a time consuming clean-out process to repair.

Left: Preparing to re-tool one of the dip furnaces for a standard range of caps. Sinclair & Rush Sales Engineers work with our tooling specialists to create custom moulds to cap, plug and protect almost anything.

Whatever the surface finishing process, paint, powder coating, e-coating, plating - and however hostile the operating environment and temperature - key components benefit from fast, efficient, re-usable, dedicated or versatile masking solutions.

There are many off-the-shelf caps, plugs and sleeves manufactured and supplied globally through Sinclair & Rush http://www.sinclair-rush.co.uk/.

There is also a wealth of experience to advise on the best product type, combination and application for the many and varied processes that clients face in their manufacturing and shipping processes.

Technology, machinery and materials have evolved alongside engineering skills. Dip moulding processes are more flexible and precise. Results provide exceptional accuracy to previously unattainable tolerances, enabling bespoke masking to be less costly to create; ergonomically easier to apply and remove; and economically reusable.

Put us to the test.

If you would like to review your masking and product protection policies in search of cheaper, faster, more efficient solutions, call Sinclair & Rush today on 01622 693 200; visit www.sinclair-rush.co.uk  or email sales@sinclair-rush.co.uk today - and put a smile on your FD's face.

Right: they may look like fork handles, but...:

http://youtu.be/Cz2-ukrd2VQ (enjoy).

Gripping news for global plastic moulding solutions

As you reach for your pliers, do you ever wonder at the global resources that have combined to create the branded plastic grips on the handles – well of course not …

…but if you are a hand tools manufacturer, then finding the most cost-effective means, source and logistics for finishing and differentiating the grips and handles on your products over the competitions’ is a year round task.

This is where you’d expect us to tell you about the cost efficient, flexible, supportive and viable dip moulding and dip coating solutions from Sinclair & Rush’s GripWorks brand, products and service portfolio.

Or that our bespoke dip coating and moulding, colours, double dip texture variables and branding solutions are second to none and are proven to fit into cross-continent manufacturing logistics.

But again that’s not what we want to brag about today.

What we do want to introduce today is our ability to supply Liquid Plastisol to manufacturers for dip moulding and dip coating either by us or by your own preferred dip coating supplier. If you have ‘in house’ dip coating solutions but your liquid plastic is not up to spec, contact Sinclair & Rush and we will supply it anywhere in the world.

Sinclair & Rush laboratories have created numerous combinations of Liquid Plastisol under the VynaFlex brand at our parent company, Sinclair & Rush, Missouri, USA. In fact, there are over 55 combinations and colours to suit all applications. Some materials are even available in fluorescent, metallic and translucent colours. These unique VynaFlex plastisol formulations are also mixed at our Maidstone works to support customer-specific solutions across Europe.

These are just some of the single and double dip effects and variations that our fabrication techniques facilitate:

...and this short video clip shows the broader THINK PLASTIC solutions available from Sinclair & Rush:

Our custom dip moulding services can take your product and create a GripWorks solution, from Sinclair & Rush, to add value to your products and make them stand out at retail point of sale.

Typical applications for plastisol include coatings for marine products, playground equipment, outdoor furniture, hand grips and electrical insulation covers. GripWorks (as it says on the tin) are heavily involved in the grip business, hence the availability of a number of plastisol formulas specifically designed to improve the look and feel of materials for hand grip applications.

Sinclair & Rush (UK / Europe) have recently been asked to replicate an arrangement being successfully operated ‘Stateside’, over here in Europe. There, hand wrenches are supplied to a third party, as is the liquid plastisol from S&R. The wrenches are dipped to create the distinctive grips. Then the manufacturer continues their US distributions with optimal cost efficiency and practical logistics.

Irega is perhaps Europe’s leading manufacturer of adjustable wrenches. They are based in Spain but support customers and users worldwide. A statistic quoted at the recent International Hardware Fair in Cologne stated that “over 90% of its total production is exported to over 60 countries around the world”. Global indeed.

Their manufacturing and logistics systems are finely tuned to supply the best quality adjustable wrenches, serviced anywhere, whilst optimising stock levels, all managed from Spain. Part of this chain of events is the dip coating of their highly distinctive grips in Slovenia.

In Europe, we are to start supplying the liquid plastisol to Unior in Slovenia for the dip coating process. The wrenches will be dipped and sent back to Spain for packaging and further shipping to the States for onward sales and distribution there.

For a business intent on cost effective manufacture of the highest standards – we are proud they have chosen Sinclair & Rush to supply the quality plastisol they need.

Make a cost-effective distinction to your grips – coat them with GripWorks soon.

FOR MORE DETAILS AND

A FREE SAMPLE PACK

PLEASE VISIT:

http://www.sinclair-rush.co.uk/

The flexible essentials of Custom Plastic Moulding

Jon Dale of The Camping and Caravanning Club said “2012 is set to be a bumper year for the UK and one of the most inexpensive ways to enjoy all of the action is by camping and caravanning.”

You might well cry at the thought of a gridlocked M5 or following sluggish crocodiles of caravans down narrow Devon roads.

At Sinclair & Rush our thoughts are different. We think:   caravan = car; car = tow bar; tow bar = towball, towball = towball cover; towball cover = Custom Plastic Moulding. Well, that’s because WE THINK PLASTIC.

It’s not obsession, it’s our profession.

But why caravans? Well, we are just using caravans and towball covers as one of innumerable of examples, because we are talking about CUSTOM Plastic Moulding. This means fabricating a prototype mould or ‘tool’ to create a plastic cover, cap, sleeve, grip, plug or almost any custom product  for just about anything that needs covering, protecting, paint masking, sleeving, blanking, tactilely enhancing, colour coding, branding etc. and in just about any industry.

We have nearly 60 years of experience in Dip Moulding and, through our Stockcap brand, we’ve made Custom Moulding an art form - http://www.stockcap.co.uk/custom.asp

The towball of choice has been the Flange where the ball is bolted to the bracket, in turn bolted to the bar. Now, thoughts and manufacture are looking towards the increasing popularity of the Swans Neck style of detachable towing device. New towball, new applications, new concept in plastic towball cover.

Sinclair and Rush have pioneered the market in regards to the single dip and double dip moulding process and have invented numerous materials to support its effectiveness, viability and cost efficiency.

Our extensive material compounding capabilities not only allow us to offer the largest selection in the industry, but at the lowest possible cost, particularly for plastisol. We mix our own plastisol, which eliminates unnecessary margins built in to costs by manufacturers and handlers. These cost savings are passed on to our customers.

Plastisol is a vinyl compound, liquid at room temperature, which fuses into an ordinary vinyl when heated. The fusion can take on any thickness, durability, colour, finish – hence its massively practical and diverse applications.

Whilst its engineering has developed into a global high tech industry, the dip moulding process derives its basic process from candle manufacturing – an ancient art. At the production stage, rows or moulds are suspended (as were candles by their wicks) over the liquid plastic.

The moulds or 'tools' are heated, dipped and after fusion, cooled and the plastic ‘whatever your imagination challenges us to produce’ is separated from the mould ready for use. The detail is extraordinary and the application as varied as creative engineering minds enable.

An expert Stockcap team is available to discuss the Custom Plastic Dip Moulding opportunities for initial prototype through to high volume manufacturing runs. This is an inexpensive and accurate prototyping process capable of achieving any sleeving, capping, blanking needs to high specification and durable finish.

“So, can S&R mould anything for me?”

“Well, almost anything....just ask us.”

Sinclair & Rush’s global custom moulding expertise covers a diverse range of industry applications:

...with a vast range of product:

For more information please call 01622 693200;

visit http://www.sinclair-rush.co.uk/;

or e-mail info@sinclair-rush.co.uk

Clear plastic tubing – safe accessibility until the urge is felt.

Whilst clearly not what it once was, the textile industry is still very much alive and well in the Colne Valley west of Huddersfield. Sliced by the River Colne and Huddersfield Narrow Canal, Milnsbridge was once the centre of the thriving regional woollen and worsted yarn textile industry. Now, thanks to Europa Wools, the heritage lives on.

Europa Wools Limited is a family business, merchants and stockists of textile fibres since 1988. The wool is no longer grown on the backs of hardy moorland breeds grazing the local landscapes. Their comprehensive range of wool, man-made and speciality fibres are sourced from around the world, including New Zealand, Australia and of course British wool.

A sound business and creative diversification is their predominantly web-based proposition for the consumer wool and textile market. Hobbyists and small ‘cottage industry’ manufacturers can find everything they need to support their enthusiasm in the World of Wool.

Felting is particularly popular and key to the process is the felting needle – or rather needles. These are very sharp, usually three cornered needles with small barbs on each side for working the wools. As the barbed needle penetrates the fibres, they push upper layers down through the lower layers which become tangled after repeated working with the needle.

As needles are the key and felters use different ones for different processes, they need to be visible, easily accessible and well labelled – they also need to be protected and safe.

This is where Sinclair and Rush come in.

From the Visipak brand product range, clear plastic tubing is the perfect solution - made to measure Extruded PermaSeal tubes. The durability of the bottom is such that they won’t split or crack even under tremendous pressure. Made from PETG or PVC materials, Extruded PermaSeal tubes are the highest quality packaging tube containers on the market.

Different coloured caps denote different needle types. The push fit end caps fit tightly to protect the product as well as fingers, yet can be removed for easy access to the needles when in use.

This is a relatively new product for World of Wool. The competitively priced solution is perfect for storage and shipping as well as offering attractive accessibility at point of sale in the factory shop.

And then in the end user’s home, the tubing keeps the sharp needles safe from unsuitable hands and accessible when the urge once more is felt.

These clear plastic tubes are part of the extensive Visipak range of clear plastic tubing, clamshells, boxes etc. all available from Sinclair & Rush.

For more details visit: www.visipak.co.uk ; call 01622 693200 ; or e-mail sales@sinclair-rush.co.uk

There's more to Sinclair & Rush than you might think ~ THINKING PLASTIC? 

WE CERTAINLY DO:

The Whale and the Flat-Packed PET

Munster Simms Engineering, of Bangor Northern Ireland, is better known by its brand name Whale. They are the UK’s leading manufacturer of pumps, valves and faucets for Caravans, Motor Homes and Boats sold to manufacturers, distributors and through retail merchandising display – globally.

For them, packaging must not only be robust to protect the items from damage and contamination in transit and store, but the design and presentation must support their brand integrity throughout.

Until speaking to Sinclair & Rush about their Visipak http://www.visipak.co.uk/ brand range of clear plastic packaging, card had been the Whale’s pack and display medium.

Well, plastic is really a generic because PET provides the robust and visually stimulating solution, part of it at least.

PET stands for polyethylene terephthalate, a mouthful but an invaluable product. It’s a plastic resin and a form of polyester. For you techies out there, polyethylene terephthalate is a polymer that is formed by combining two monomers: modified ethylene glycol and purified terephthalic acid.

Manufacturers use PET plastic to package products because of its strength, thermo-stability and transparency. And customers choose PET because it is inexpensive, lightweight, re-sealable, shatter-resistant and recyclable. Viable and ecologically sound.

The boxes are manufactured, overprinted and supplied flat. Die-cut tongues fold into place as the package is literally and simply squeezed together. The product is enclosed and the top pressed to. The protruding ‘euro-slot’ is ready to hang on euro hooks at the point of display supporting smart, simple merchandising.

The strength beats its poorer card relation on durability and the recently soaring price of card is beaten on cost. Branding is confidently sustained and all on-pack instructions, warnings and fine print terms are clearly visible with no danger of water-marking and other deformation problems.

As you see, the clear ‘window’ area is part of one sheet of PET, so clarity in no way prejudices strength. Clear packaging allows high visibility enabling the purchaser to check the printed on-pack spec as well as to actually see the item to be sure it matches the old pump being replaced.

We suggested earlier that switching to PET from Sinclair & Rush was just part of the solution provided for Whale Pumps.

You see, Whale wanted to cut costs further by increasing production runs and benefiting from the economies of scale therein. However, the volumes (even flat packed) would cause logistical headaches in their manufacturing and distribution facilities.

Ever flexible, Sinclair & Rush solved both problems by increasing the run, but managing the volume by holding stock in Kent, called off to a 48 Hour JIT programme, scheduled to suit the client’s own production flows.

For more information on the Visipak range of clear plastic tubing, clamshells and boxes, visit http://www.visipak.co.uk/ ;

call 01622 693 200 or e-mail sales@sinclair-rush.co.uk today.