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​Over the past decade, more and more companies are choosing plastic over metal. But why? There are many advantages to a metal-to-plastic conversion. The most common reasons companies are making this choice are for reducing weight, reducing cost, reducing thermal and electrical conductivity, consolidating parts, and eliminating human contact with ha...

Plastic has a diverse history. Originally discovered in nature and then perfected by man, plastics are now looking at a complicated future. When was plastic first discovered? All plastic is considered a polymer, which is a term that refers to a long repetitive chain of molecules. One value of plastic is that it can be shaped when soft and then reta...

Injection molding has proven time and time again to be the best investment for manufacturers that are looking to speed up production processes while lowering material costs. Many people are surprised to learn just how long the injection molding process has existed. IVP Plastics is over 65 years old, but the first machine was patented over one hundr...

Validate with Prototypes This is the fifth chapter on Designing for Performance: Validate with Prototypes. Our previous blog covered Optimize for Manufacturability. After being optimized for manufacturability, the part should be completed on paper with a CAD model that has been subjected to finite element analysis. Based on the market, customer exp...

This is the fourth chapter on Designing for Performance: Optimize for Manufacturability. Our previous blog covered Simulation Models & Analysis. There are many things to consider when designing a part, including manufacturability. This is something that is completed prior to producing prototype parts. For instance, any unnecessary fasteners wil...

Next week we will recognize the first anniversary of our roof collapse that occurred on 3/24/2018. As most of you know, a particularly heavy snowfall and wind from the east combined to put such a load on the corner of our roof that it collapsed. We continue to be more than thankful that no one was hurt. Looking back on the past 12 months, it's been...

In review, the previous blog covered step two: Developing Design Concepts. This brainstorming session was to generate and document ideas for the new design. In today's world, nothing moves on or off an engineer's desk without Computer Aided Design (CAD). This requires time to define a part and assembly model using specialized software which provide...

What are bioplastics? Bioplastics are made from renewable resources such as wood pulp, corn, sugarcane, or feathers. Bioplastics can also be biodegradable, which means they break down naturally. Bioplastics are eco-friendly, can help battle climate change, and can be designed to decompose. Decomposing plastic can be useful for products such as sing...

Did you know that advancements in plastic technology have allowed us to convert previously metal parts to plastic? Depending on the material and additives, some plastic can be just as strong as some metals. Converting something that was made from metal to a new plastic material can save a company a lot of time and money in the long run. Plastic par...

Did you know that some plastic products have unique additives such as glass fibers? Glass fibers add a lot of strength to a part. The most basic additives are pigments, which are meant to change the color of the material. However, some pigments react poorly with certain polymers and can make them more susceptible to chemical reactions. Some additiv...

There are countless kinds of plastic that have been invented. We've listed a few that you might have heard of as well as some of their properties and uses. Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS): There is a chance you have ABS in your home. LEGO bricks are made from ABS. ABS is durable and lightweight and frequently used for 3D printing. It performs...

 Alexander Parkes created the first form of human-made plastic and revealed it to the public in 1862 at the London International Exhibition. He called the compound Parkesine. Parkesine is created by dissolving cellulose nitrate in alcohol and mixing it with vegetable oil. It was an early precursor to celluloid and can be created entirely from ...

The term 'polymer' is relatively diverse. All plastic is considered a polymer, which is a term that refers to a long repetitive chain of molecules. The value in plastic is that it can be shaped when soft and retain its shape once hard. Biopolymers are found in nature, and synthetic polymers are engineered to have specific properties. People have us...

In January of 2019, IVP Plastics was awarded as the 2018 Community Partner of the Year by Goodwill. In December of 2017, IVP Plastics held a donation drive on site that lasted 2 weeks and ended up collecting 360 pounds of goods. We were one of the highest collecting donation drives in the area! The relationship between Goodwill and IVP has benefite...

 To recap what was covered in the first blog during a Metal to Plastic Conversion, the following steps were reviewed: • During the collaboration target setting meetings, the cross-functional group agreed to the key characteristics of the part/system under design consideration.• Goals to achieve during the conversion were identified by the grou...

 This blog is the first in a series on converting metal parts to thermoplastic. The focus will be design simplification, cost reduction, part weight, project management and enhancing performance through a metal-to-plastic conversion process. IVP's engineers will share expertise and experience in designing with plastics to eliminate some of the...

ISO/TS 16949 is an international quality standard for automotive companies that was developed by the International Automotive Task Force (IATF). IVP has been certified to the ISO/TS 16949 standard since January 2005. In late 2016, the IATF published an upgrade to the standard called IATF 16949 with new requirements that better meet the automotive i...

On June 13th and 14th Daryl Lindemann, Matt Lang and I were invited to attend AGCO's Global Supplier Conference, in Duluth, GA. This is the second year we attended. Along with spending time with many of the people we work with at AGCO every day, we were informed of market trends in agriculture, AGCO's APEX Supplier Collaboration website enhancement...

You may have heard that IVP had a partial roof collapse earlier this year after one of the heaviest snows in recent memory. Thankfully, no one was hurt. The recovery effort is well underway at IVP Plastics in Washington! We have moved some production to our 20,000 sq. ft building across the street we had purchased several months prior to the incide...