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Custom Urethane Parts and Products: What to Tell Your Supplier – Part 2

Cast Urethane Parts

In part 1 of this series, we covered two of the five critical areas that need to be discussed with your urethane supplier when ordering custom urethane products. In Part 2, we will cover three additional areas you should communicate to your supplier in order to achieve an optimal product or part design.

3. Product Functions:

Let your urethane supplier know how the part will be used upfront. Your supplier can review different formula options and discuss ways to maximize your product’s performance. In addition, let your supplier know other functional aspects including load, speed, amount of hours per day it will run, and at what cycles (continuous or intermittent).

Past Performance:
Learning from previous material performance is a great way for your urethane supplier to determine how to improve upon an existing design. Provide your supplier with current material specs along with samples and any advantages or disadvantages so that they can design a version that will function with optimal performance in your application. Advances in materials, designs, and processing technologies will be taken into account when building upon an existing version of a part/product.

4. Critical Properties:

Be specific when describing critical properties that your product will need. This will let the future urethane supplier know what they need to do to provide the best performing product possible. Examples of critical properties include:

  • Durometer (hardness)
  • Dimensional Tolerances
  • No Mold release
  • FDA Dry application
  • FDA Wet application
  • Load Bearing
  • Resilience
  • Abrasion

5. Environment:

Environmental elements such as heat, ozone, acids, petrochemicals, UV light and water can have effects on the function of your part or product. Communicating the type of environment your part will be used in along with exposure time will give your urethane supplier a good idea of what they can do to achieve maximum results.

Turning to experts in urethane formulation for strategic guidance will ensure that all the right questions are covered and that your answers are incorporated correctly into a custom formulation for your product. Experienced custom urethane suppliers will work with you to create the strongest, toughest and most durable custom urethane part or product to meet your application needs using the most cost-effective formulation to achieve your goals. To learn more about custom urethane parts and products check out our custom urethane product gallery.