PLITEK® Guide to Custom Film Extrusion:
Film Extrusion
As industry products and technological advancements continually evolve, the necessity for films used throughout the manufacturing process to be adaptable becomes imperative. Custom films are strategically produced by combining copolymers obtaining the sought after outcome in flexibility, resilience, and transparency.
Furthermore, partnering with a film extrusion supplier with extensive capabilities provides a greater opportunity for custom films to be precisely formulated and scalable. Also, extruded films can be tailored to meet specific application requirements with accuracy. In particular, strength, barrier, color, and weight are some of the customizable attributes in film extrusion.
Subsequently, the application of extruded films can be found in a comprehensive reach of industries including: medical, packaging & merchandising, automotive & aerospace, electronics, and industrial.
What is a Class 8 Clean Room Film Extrusion?
Clean room film extrusion controls the concentration quantity of airborne particles. For instance, this manufacturing method is used commonly for industries requiring strict governance on particle count like the medical industry.
What types of film can you extrude?
- Ethylene Vinyl Acetate (EVA)
- High Density Polyethylene (HDPE)
- Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE)
- Polypropylene (PP)
- Polystyrene (PS)
- Polyester (PET)
- Hytrel thermoplastic polyester elastomer
- Santoprene
- Custom blends
What are custom film blends?
Custom film blends are the result of combining multiple resins to achieve desired strength, barrier, weight, and color.
Are there various custom film formats?
Custom films can be provided in roll form, sheet form, or as precision die cut components tailored to meet specific application requirements.
What is your minimum order quantity?
We can extrude as low as 500 lbs. This gives us the ability to support our customers from a design and development phase, through high volume production and commercialization.
Are there different types of film finish you provide?
- Smooth
- Taffeta
- Matte
- Other finishes available upon request
Is there a maximum width you can extrude?
- 22” wide
What is the minimum /maximum thickness you can extrude?
PLITEK® can extrude 2-40 mil thick films depending upon the type of resin.
Are there typical core types?
- Paper cores
- Plastic cores
- 3” ID cores
- 6” ID cores
What are some medical grade film applications?
- Ostomy
- Wound care
- Medical device
- Wearables
- Packaging cards
- IV Solution bags
- Blood bags
What does wind direction mean?
Wind direction is the direction in which film can be unrolled in downstream processing.
Why do some films have a carrier film?
Extruded films can be supplied on a carrier film for various reasons such as process requirement (cast film extrusion), to prevent wrinkles and gauge band during the production rewind process, or to offer support for thin or stretchy films. Additionally, carrier film may be required in the downstream manufacturing process.
PLITEK®’s Capabilities:
PLITEK® specializes in custom film extrusion and offers the film in roll form, sheet form, or as precision die cut components to meet specific application requirements. Additionally, we supply a wide array of extruded film types and offer material selection assistance to meet project requirements.
- ISO Class 8 clean room and non-clean room
- Cast extrusion
- Sheet extrusion
- Engineered resins
- Custom colors and tints
- Conductive/anti-static, EMI/RFI shielding and custom fillers
- 2mil – 40mil thick
- Up to 22” wide
- Single layer or laminated with carrier film
PLITEK® is an ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 13485:2016 certified global converting leader.