"Plastics."
Remember, that was the financial career tip whispered in the
movie, "The Graduate", by Murray Hamilton (Mrs. Robinson's husband)
into the ear of young Benjamin, aka Dustin Hoffman. Benjamin
didn't care about the future of plastics, he obviously had other
things on his mind. However, another young guy was paying attention,
Ken Delmar, the founder of Conductive Plastics Company in Media,
Pa.
In 1979, Delmar
began his business by being a consultant to companies that needed
knowledge and materials to prevent static damage with the use
of newly developed plastics. "Making an alloy with plastic and
other materials is the secret in making products to prevent damage
due to static electricity," says Delmar. The business has steadily
grown for the past eighteen years, with distributors all over
the world, including the Pacific, Canada, the United Kingdom
and France. "Other plastics companies may be larger and have
more locations, but the company produces highly specialized products
for clients with specific needs. If you want a Rolls Royce built,
you don't go to General Motors, you want a specialized manufacturer.
That's how our clients and customers perceive us," says Delmar.
The idea for
this business was actually conceived when Delmar was in the United
States army. As a Captain in the Green Berets, one has to be
skilled in many areas. The 81 mm mortar rocket was wrapped in
a conductive wrap. This is because a static spark could possibly
detonate ammunition which would be catastrophic. A procurement
officer at Piccatiny Arsenal in New Jersey told Delmar that if
he could figure out how to make a conductive bag, the Government
would save the taxpayers money. Delmar not only figured this
out but also realized that the growing electronic industry also
needed such an item. Carbon was added to the polyethylene to
make a black plastic bag that would absorb sparks much like a
kitchen counter sponge absorbs water. "It's still there but its
under control," says Delmar.
Conductive
Plastics Company was on its way and it wasn't even one year old
when the customers wanted a conductive bag that they could see
through. That was when Delmar took an existing solar film that
was vacuum metalized and laminated it with anti static polyethylene
on one side with a flexible polyurethane varnish coat on the
other side. This became the transparent static shielding bag
that would be commonly used to package circuit boards and other
sensitive devices.
Conductive
Plastics also supplies bags for packaging specialty parts such
as replacement pieces for computers, telecommunications equipment,
robotics devices and airplane navigation instruments. Conductive
Plastics can recommend and design the type of material best suited
to meet all of a customer's production and packaging needs, from
medical supplies and electrical equipment to in-house handling
of all types of sensitive material. They specialize in anti static,
static shielding, static dissipative and conductive packaging.
Materials supplied can also be FDA approved for electronic, industrial
and medical applications.
If you're not
versed in the language of plastics, and who is, have no fear.
Mr. Delmar has a knack for analogy that he uses to explain terms
like, "profile extrusion" and "injection molding." Profile extrusion
is plastic manufacturing process similar to what happens when
cookies are made with a cookie press. In addition to this and
many other more complex techniques, Conductive Plastics also
offers prototype development. Delmar will design and produce
a handmade prototype of the particular shape and material that
your business might need for a fraction of the cost of commanding
an entire order. Delmar explains, "This way you have only
spent $2500 to $3000 for the development cost instead of being
stuck,
for example, with 25,000 parts that do not meet your specifications
and have tooling costs of $25,000."
Several large
U.S. plastic bag companies have asked Conductive Plastics Company
to be their distributor. These products include the reclosable zip
lock track poly bags, pre-opened and automatic bags on rolls and
plastic bags made for clean rooms.
Other products
handled by Conductive Plastics include foam sheets and shapes,
static dissipative vinyls and custom and blow molded cases.
While Benjamin,
"The Graduate", missed the boat about plastics, Delmar's Conductive
Plastics Company has only prospered. In whatever shape or form
you may want, Conductive Plastics will help design and supply
you with the best plastic products for your company. |