Are you an engineer responsible for the design of a product or the improvement of a manufacturing process involving assembly? If so, Halco USA is ready to help you solve many assembly and fastening applications needs.
We are unique in the reclosable fastening industry in that we are focused on directly supporting OEMs, have our own broad line of specialty fastening materials AND we are a converter that responds quickly and effectively to the product design and production challenges of our OEM and tier manufacturing customers. We also partner with material sciences companies like 3M to provide innovative and high-performing solutions to meet our customers’ unique application requirements.
So how do we collaborate? And what are our specialty materials and converting capabilities? How do they fit a customer’s product design or manufacturing process?
In essence, our process mirrors that of our OEM customers in working with them through the development of their own products through their R&D, engineering, manufacturing, quality assurance, and purchasing processes. We summarize these services and capabilities to OEMs in a document we call our “Converting Capabilities Statement”. You can learn more about this here
Research & Development: Halco helps meet the needs of R&D engineers and scientists by providing detailed technical information and performance data, doing in-house testing for its customers, and submitting its materials to 3rd party testing laboratories to test the performance of its products to challenging codes and specifications.
Product Engineering Product engineers are often the project managers responsible for taking a product all the way from R&D design through manufacturing integration, purchasing, and into market launch. Halco assists product engineers by providing critical engineering support services:
- CAD Drawings. We often do CAD engineering drawings to show the details of the part that will be manufactured to match your design. CAD drawings can be turned around in a matter of a few days
- Product Customization. Sometimes a fastener needs a unique adhesive system to work well with a particular substrate or perform in certain environmental conditions. Halco partners with companies like 3M to provide the best fit adhesive for the application. We then custom laminate the specified adhesive to our Hook and Loop
- Rapid Prototyping. Depending on the complexity of the design, Halco can often make a prototype part in a few days and send it to the engineer for review
- Die-Cutting. Halco has a variety of precision die-cutting methods to stamp or kiss-cut the fastening materials into a specific shape to match the customer’s design and manufacturing process. Die-cut shapes can be cut to the liner or all the way through, mated or unmated. Halco has partnered with RotoMetrics (a Maxcess brand) for solid rotary dies to guarantee tight tolerances and precision with die-cut parts.
Manufacturing. Our 30 years of manufacturing experience gives our customers a wealth of resources, especially related to adhesives, liner modifications, and creating fastening materials that help speed and streamline the customer’s manufacturing process or by making it easier for the final product to be used. Liner services include:
- Relinering. Many fastening materials and adhesive tape systems come with a paper liner (either densified kraft or polycoated kraft) but these liners do not always process well in automated assembly applications. Halco helps these manufacturers by removing the paper liner and replacing it with a PET film liner or glassine paper liner.
- Edge and Dead Zone Processing. Halco can apply a liner that is slightly wider than the fastening material so that it can be easily removed by hand. This is called a fingerlift edge. We can also remove adhesive from a specific area of the fastening material to make it easier to stitch or assemble. This is known as a ‘dead zone’.
- Sheeting. An example of this is placing several hook and loop coins on a small liner sheet. This is particularly relevant for kitted parts and consumer retail.
- Perforating. Halco can perforate the fastening material to the liner or all the way through the liner so that small strips can easily be separated from a roll
- Custom Printing. Some customers may want their logo or some instructions printed on a liner. Halco will reliner the material with a custom printed liner to support this need.
Quality Assurance. We do in-house testing to assure the quality of all products before they are shipped. For products that must meet defined codes and specifications, Halco will test and produce a certificate to be provided with each individual order.
Purchasing. Halco offers several programs to help ensure a reliable supply chain. These include vendor agreements and the handling of blanket orders. Additional programs are discussed and approved upon request.
So how can Halco’s specialty converting capabilities help you? What challenges do you face with your product or assembly process? Can we help improve your design? Solve a technical problem? Or enhance your manufacturing process by customizing a fastening solution? Reach out and tell us just a little bit more about your project and we’ll get right back to you! Contact Us