Plastic/Elastomer Decorating

Galaxy

Components:

Completely assembled user interface panel including rigid subpanel, PCB with LEDs, overlay and laser etched elastomer buttons.

Application:

Cardiovascular imaging.

Challenge:

Spray painting and laser etching of legends on custom colored elastomer buttons and plastic knobs. Maintaining consistent tactile feel of buttons despite wide variation in size of each button. Establishing the correct number and position of LEDs on the PCB in order to achieve adequate backlighting of laser etched buttons.

Solution:

Dedicated design engineer worked closely with manufacturing to determine the best manufacturing methods.

PRNDL

Components:

Injection molded and spray painted gear shift PRNDL.

Application:

2003-2004 Lincoln Navigator.

Challenge:

Engineering the backlighting according to customer specifications. Strict weekly delivery requirements.

Solution:

GM Nameplate engineers worked with the customer to develop and test the ideal spray painting depth and laser etching technique to achieve the desired backlighting. Once in production, parts were in various stages of completion at all times in order to meet all delivery requirements. Our on-time delivery percent to date is 98%.

M&Ms

Components:

One-cavity injection mold IMD inlay.

Application:

Point of purchase vending machine.

Challenge:

Supply a durable part to withstand surface scratching in a retail environment.

Solution:

GM Nameplate worked closely with this customer to understand the expected hazards of the retail environment where this product would be placed. Our engineers discussed several possible solutions, deciding that producing this project as an In-Mold Decorated part would best meet the customer’s requirements.

Hyperion

Components:

Molded lens applied to molded back plate.

Application:

HyperionTM LTK System (ophthalmologic laser system).

Challenge:

Choosing and achieving the aesthetic look that best fit the product and its desired positioning in the marketplace. Engineering the part for manufacturing without sacrificing the design ideals.

Solution:

GM Nameplate’s broad range of capabilities made it an obvious choice for this component. We supplied Sunrise Technologies with a wide range of samples and helped them piece together the right processes to achieve the finished product. Once a direction was decided on, GM Nameplate’s engineering team provided step by step support to ensure the manufacturability and quality of the product.

Frontier

Components:

High volume injection molded polyethylene and polypropylene, screen printed with three colors.

Application:

Product information packaging.

Challenge:

This customer required large volumes and a cost-effective three color printing method.

Solution:

GM Nameplate’s engineers worked closely with this customer to build stack molds meeting both volume and cost requirements. This innovation allowed the use of smaller molding machines, enabling us to meet production requirement of three million parts annually.