White Papers

Featured White Paper

How China, India and Eastern Europe are changing the global electronics market (pdf)  CEO roundtable discussion provides electronics-industry business insight into China, India and Eastern Europe. ...

Sensors for medical devices (PDF)  The key to becoming and staying a leader in the medical-device industry is to aggressively launch new, never before seen devices. These devices should perform a function not previously possible, be smaller, faster, less expensive and more multi-functional than their predecessors. With the $100 billion market expected to explode to $300+ billion over the next few years, it is safe to say there will be growing demand for these products. Conversely, there will be more competition, more FDA scrutiny, more competitive pricing pressure and more rattling from the financial sector to pump out more state-of-the- art devices to satisfy the Wall Street darlings....

Effect of gamma sterilization on select TPE materials  Modern sterilization techniques used in the healthcare industry can have a detrimental effect on thermoplastic polymers. In particular, gamma sterilization, which is the most common ionization method, can cause substantial changes to occur in polymeric materials. Polymer chain scission and cross linking can both occur, altering the physical properties and appearance of materials. This paper discusses the effect gamma sterilization has on these various TPE compounds produced by RTP Company....

Direct Digital Manufacturing: Impact and Opportunity (PDF)  At the departmental level, justification for fixtures can be quite simple. Those that use direct digital manufacturing for this application report savings of 50 to 75 percent, when compared to traditional machining and fabricating processes. So, if the typical fixture costs $500, direct digital manufacturing has the potential to produce the same item for $125 to $250. Coupled with the rapid response to manufacturing challenges, this cost reduction makes it is easy to justify direct digital manufacturing of fixtures...

10 Critical Questions to Ask a Manufacturing ERP Vendor (PDF)  Plexus Systems suggests that many manufacturers are focusing on the wrong issues when considering ERP solutions. The ERP industry has earned such a poor reputation for delivery in the last 20 years that users has learned to live within a very narrow set of constraints – and those constraints have been in place for so long that the questions we hear are built with those constraints already assumed. Now is the time to break free of this mind-set and ask the more important questions....

Common Mistakes in Battery Pack Development (And How to Avoid Them) (PDF)  A few oversights can turn your battery project a nightmare. This whitepaper examines commonly made mistakes to keep in mind to ensure your project goes as smoothly as possible. ...

The Road to Lean (PDF)  Anyone with an interest in lean-manufacturing principles, and the challenges and rewards in implementing them, will find this brochure a handy reference. In it, UltraSource reviews their journey towards Lean and outlines some key achievements along the way, including a 475% increase in a critical productivity metric. ...

Nation's Life Sciences Firms Report Progress with the FDA, Yet Significant Challenges Still Exist (PDF)  The nation’s pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device companies report that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has made progress with improved guidance, expectations and approvals, but the industry remains concerned about a number of regulatory challenges. A national report issued today outlines a series of issues that still need to be resolved to improve product review delays and shorten the approval process via user fees....

Interpower Corp.'s Export Designers Reference Catalog (Registration Page)  Interpower Corporation, manufacturer of standard and custom cordsets for OEMs has compiled the companies whitepapers/technical data into the Export Designers Reference Catalog. It aids in designing primary power circuits of international products to help designers make the right decisions for global distribution. The Designer's Reference section shows world plug/socket patterns, voltages and frequencies, international safety agencies and standards published by IEC 60320. Electrical products include power connectors, molded North American and international cords & cordsets, plugs, sockets, and other components with all major agency approvals....

Effective Product Development Outsourcing (PDF)  Engineering and product development are among the last areas affected by the outsourcing trend. Can new product development (NPD) outsourcing be effective and economical? Why are companies doing it? Is it worth it? What are the issues that prevent businesses from maximizing potential?...

Sterility Testing -- Essential Things You Must Know (PDF)  This paper presents the general concepts and problems associated with sterility testing as well as the various testing methodologies. Most USP <71> sections are harmonized with the EP/JP...

Increasing Air Cooling Efficiency Through Advanced Fan Modeling (PDF)  For forced air convection cooling to remain the workhorse of electronics thermal management, a closer look at the fansystem interaction with respect to airflow delivery and acoustics emissions are proposed and discussed. ...

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