Custom Dispensing Tips Save Time for Fiber Optics Manufacturer

A Success Story

Different dispensing applications present different challenges, and sometimes it’s a difficult to find the right solution. Often, manufacturers will spend weeks or even months going through trial and error to find the right process or equipment. They lose time and money getting the application just right.

That’s exactly what was happening when a fiber optics company contacted Nordson EFD about creating custom dispensing needles. They needed to streamline a challenging fluid dispensing process and wondered if a custom-designed dispense tip would help.

Here’s more information about the application, and how Nordson EFD helped.

Fluid Used

Two-part epoxy

Application Requirements

• Tip cannula to match exacting specifications
• Extremely tight tolerances

Previous Process

The fiber optics manufacturer had been re-working Nordson EFD general purpose tips in-house so that the tips would meet its specific application requirements. This involved allocating an employee to work 40 hours per week, manually shaping the tips to fit the cavity where the fluid was dispensed.

Issues with Previous Process

It was difficult to re-work the dispensing needles by hand with any consistency. Inconsistent dispense tips were creating inconsistent deposits. Since the size of the connectors that required fluid dispensing were extremely small and the distance between the pins was very tight, inconsistent dispensing caused too many rejects.

Solution

Nordson EFD designed a chamfered tip with a custom taper to dispense consistent amounts of epoxy into the cavities of the connectors. The fiber optics manufacturer provided the exact specifications. Because they had been re-working general purpose dispensing tips in-house, they knew precisely what kind of taper they needed.

EFD created a completely custom tip design that met the exacting application requirements. It was a challenge that required rigorous trial and error to produce a dispensing needle with such specific taper dimensions.

Results

The fiber optics company saved valuable production time previously used to manually alter dispensing tips for the application. They re-allocated the employee who had been shaping dispensing needles for 40 hours per week to a different process, therefore optimizing production capacity. They also achieved a more controlled fluid dispensing process, allowing higher first-pass yields and greater profitability.

If you would like to learn more about custom tips, don’t hesitate to request expert help at [email protected].

Rui Azevedo

Rui Azevedo is a Regional Sales Manager for Mexico, Latin America, and Florida at Nordson EFD. He handles large sales opportunities, including the demonstration of advanced dispensing solutions at customer facilities. Rui has more than 10 years of fluid dispensing expertise. He joined Nordson EFD in 2007.