Electronic Materials Incorporated (EMI) Reflects on 20 Years with Nordson EFD

Customer Interview

Electronic Materials Inc., also known as EMI, is an industry-leading formulator and manufacturer of UV-cure adhesives, epoxies, sealants, encapsulants, and coatings. Founded in 1985, the fluid formulator has more than 30 years of expertise supplying high-quality materials and light cure adhesive systems to the Data Storage (HDD), optoelectronics, general micro-electronic assembly, and medical device assembly markets.

EMI uses Nordson EFD Optimum® dispensing components exclusively to package its material. We spoke with EMI General Manager, Clark Sands, to find out why.

Q: What do you do at EMI?

CS: I’m the General Manager here so I get involved in just about all aspects of our business. The company has been incorporated for 30 years but I’ve been with them for 22, so I’ve been here through the majority of our growth.

Q: What Nordson EFD products does your company use?

CS: We use the Optimum line exclusively ─ mostly syringe barrels and associated components. We also use some of the cartridges in the 12 oz, 20 oz, and 32 oz sizes.

Q: Did you use any of our competitors’ products before switching to Nordson EFD?

CS: Many, many years ago. More than 20 years ago we were using barrels and associated packaging equipment from other vendors. But a long time ago, back in the days of the Ultra™ syringe barrel, we made the switch to start using Nordson EFD products exclusively.

Q: Why did you make the switch to using Nordson EFD products exclusively?

CS: We made that decision because the overall consistency and quality of the products we were getting from Nordson EFD were superior to those from other vendors. Since we package thousands of syringes a week, the quality and consistency are really important for us. That’s why we decided to move exclusively to EFD products.

Q: What was wrong with the other vendors’ product?

CS: From other vendors we would get a shipment of syringe barrels of decent quality. When the next shipment would come in, we would see a different quality. It would be an obvious difference, like a very different color. We’re putting a liquid product into a syringe. If the syringe appears different when it goes to our customer, that creates a whole bunch of questions about the quality of the package and/or the quality of the material inside, which is really what our customers are buying. So in our business, consistency is our number one goal for our product, our packaging, and all of our handling and processing ─ everything is extremely consistent from order to order and batch to batch.

Q: Do you get positive feedback from customers about Nordson EFD products?

CS: The feedback we get from our customers about the consistency of the dispense and the quality of the barrels and parts associated with it are very important. In addition to that, we really value Nordson EFD as a vendor. EFD has made a lot of accommodations for us in terms of customer support, expediting orders when need be, doing special shipments, etc. You guys have really been a pleasure to work with in terms of a sort of partnership between vendor/customer and that’s really important for us as well. Your sales rep has always gone out of her way to accommodate us and satisfy our needs as best as possible, and that’s really a tribute to her for sure.

If you are interested in what other Nordson EFD customers have to say, check out these customer testimonials. Or if you’re interested in an expert product or process recommendation, don’t hesitate to ask for advice.

Have a question? Contact us at [email protected].

Nicole Paquet

Nicole Paquet is a Marketing Coordinator at Nordson EFD. She spends a lot of time learning as much as possible about best practices in fluid dispensing. Nicole has more than 7 years of fluid dispensing experience. She joined Nordson EFD in 2015.