February 10, 2010, 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM Eastern
Contract Coating For Development or Manufacturing
Click HERE to register for this free webinar!

Larry Gogolin
Edward Cohen, Ed Cohen Consulting
Abstract:

Companies turn to firms with contract coating capabilities for a number of reasons. It might be because they have no coating equipment and made a decision not to purchase any. The lines they have may be outdated, of improper design or configuration or overtaxed and the chemistry of a new product may not be compatible with existing facilities.

Using a contract coater can offer the a company many advantages.  These can include technical and manufacturing variety as the coater strives to serve many different markets.  Contract coating also offers the coater the chance to use another’s expertise in driving technical, engineering and operational efficiencies in business areas where the coater may not have marketing, sales and commercial expertise and capabilities.  For these and other reasons, contract coating remains a business area that many companies consider.

February 16, 2010, 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM Eastern
Resistance Heated Evaporation of Aluminum - The Basics
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Dr. Charles Bishop
Abstract:

This webinar is aimed at those new to aluminium metallizing. We will go over why it is so important to regularly clean the system, the effect of humidity on the process, why resistance heated boats need to be cared for and the effect of heat on polymer substrates.

February 18, 2010, 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM Eastern
Reducing the Carbon Footprint: Making Sustainable Flexible Packaging
Click HERE to register for this free webinar!

Giancarlo Caimmi, Nancy Smith, Rick Gloeckler, Rich Castillo and Stewart Richards
Abstract:

On Earth Day, 2009, Nordmeccanica and Dow Adhesives and Functional Polymers hosted a hands on technical session focused on "Sustainability" at Nordmeccanica's Long Island, NY location. Flexible packaging produced with bio based films, printed with water based ink, and laminated with solvent free bio based adhesives was produced at a live demonstration. The demonstration succeeded in making flexible packaging by using commercial films, commercial inks, commercial adhesives, at work on commercial machinery.
Several partners participated in the technical event including:
- Innovia for films.
- Environmental Inks for water based inks.
- Portco, a converter.
The webinar will feature a complete description of the event, the results supported by the analysis of the samples, and a detailed presentation of the multiple technologies involved.

March 2, 2010, 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM Eastern
On-line Coating Weight Measurement
Click HERE to register for this free webinar!

Hector Marchand
Abstract:

The demand for high quality consumer packaging products with increased functionality continues to rise. Coatings are thinner, more complex and costly. Production runs are shorter and line speeds are increased to improve efficiency. Remaining competitive requires a process able to run quality in-spec product from the start to finish of a run.
These tasks can not be accomplished with periodic off-line lab sampling, since a defect caught in the lab may be hours old! Add requirements for proof of product compliance and the ability to conduct real time process analysis for troubleshooting, machine improvements or product development, and a real time on-line measurement system is quickly seen as a requirement.
Probably the single biggest challenge in selecting an online measurement system is selecting the right measurement technology. Some technologies can measure the coating directly, but their performance may be limited by the types of coatings or the characteristics of the substrates. Other technologies are more versatile, involving multiple subtractive weight gauges, but these systems can be complex, expensive and limited in accuracy. Other parameters, such as moisture, substrate weight, or total product weight may be critical performance factors, and may need on-line measurement solutions as well.
In this webinar, we will review techniques that can be used to define the requirements of the measurement system based on end-product characteristics, and then use those requirements to help define the best measurement and control system to meet process needs.

March 16, 2010, 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM Eastern
Winding Webs in Vacuum - including Heat Load
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Dr. Charles Bishop
Abstract:

Many of the questions I get asked on the Blog relate to winding problems. A proportion of these are because of film quality issues and the rest are because of heat load problems. This webinar will look at how the film quality can affect winding in vacuum roll coaters as well as what is happening in the deposition zone with the heat load and how this can affect the web and what might be done to improve this aspect of the process.

April 14, 2010, 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM Eastern
Vacuum Deposit Barrier Coatings
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Dr. Charles Bishop
Abstract:

In theory a thin coating of glass or metal should be a perfect barrier but they are not. In this webinar we shall look at the reasons why the coatings contain defects and what might be done to reduce the defects. As the biggest problem is usually that of pinholes and this primarily relates to the quality of the incoming polymer film this will form the basis of the talk.

May 12, 2010, 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM Eastern
Troubleshooting - Process/Adhesion/Vacuum
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Dr. Charles Bishop
Abstract:

Sooner or later most of us will be presented with a vacuum system, process or product that is no longer working or meeting specification and we will be part of the troubleshooting team who have to correct the problem. It can help to have some structured approach to solving the problem. This webinar is aimed at helping make the troubleshooting process easier by giving a simple process to follow that can be used for any situation. The key first step is to ask questions to make sure that the right problem is being solved. It is all too easy to try to solve the wrong problem because of making assumptions and not confirming the true nature of the problem.

June 16, 2010, 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM Eastern
Reactive Deposition by Magnetron Sputtering - The Basic Process and System Design Considerations
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Dr. Charles Bishop
Abstract:

The reactive deposition of compounds from metal targets is dominated by the system pumping. Most systems are insufficiently pumped and so there is a hysteresis loop associated with the magnetron sputtering source that needs to be managed and this will be explained. Also the coating uniformity is dependent upon the system design and the reactive process can highlight design flaws such as asymmetry and this too will be explained.