Dr Chris O'Connor, Technology Manager at polymer consultancy Smithers Rapra, explains the common causes of product failure and how to avoid them. Plastics are tremendously versatile. Replacing traditional materials, they offer many new design opportunities, through their ease of processing, fabrication and decorating. Design innovations are appearing in many markets, from cars to packaging, PCs to phones, and domestic appliances to medical devices. However, along with the aesthetic benefits, come the commercial pressures on manufacturers to reduce the costs of tool sampling, product development time, product unit prices and, at the same time, optimise product quality in order to avoid expensive warranty and recall risks.
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