Fastening system help deter cable theft crime

Mobilarm, a global manufacturer of man overboard rescue systems for the marine industry, is now using low pressure moulding with Henkel's Macromelt to replace a previously subcontracted service. The project to bring Macromelt moulding in-house has not only saved on subcontract costs, it has reduced scrap rates massively and introduced new-found levels of flexibility into the company's manufacturing and prototyping processes. Until recently the company was subcontracting its requirement to encapsulate part of the aerial unit on the Sea Marshall system. Here, a small cable connects to a PCB that features side-firing LEDs. Part of the configuration is a delicate antenna spring that requires encapsulation. "When we first started product encapsulation, our supplier was producing overmoulds using conventional injection moulding techniques," explained Ian Pinder, production manager at Mobilarm Europe. "However, there was insufficient grip at the cable end so we extended downwards, effectively doubling the size of the overmould. This solved the gripping problem, but because the larger overmould required greater pressure and temperature to achieve the required flow, components were literally being blown off the PCB. We were getting 40% fall-out rates, which was completely unacceptable." Visitors to the forthcoming FAST Exhibition on April 18th will find out more about the Macromelt encapsulation system by visiting the Henkel Loctite stand at the RAF Museum, Cosford.