After nearly 50 years in business, JDC Coatings, Inc. (JDC) in Mount Juliet, TN has become known as an innovative and leading manufacturer of pressure sensitive adhesives (PSA), and industrial coatings and laminates, as well as a pioneer in “ultra clean” adhesives.
“JDC started out making decorative plates and identification labels for Murray Bicycles and Lawn Mowers,” Jim Koch, JDC’s director of Process/Product Development, said. “But by the 80s, and through the 90s, we made the commitment to focus on continually expanding our technical capabilities.”
Today, JDC carries on that commitment through delivering diverse product solutions for problem adhesive applications for many industries including automotive, industrial, appliance, graphics, healthcare and electronics. A key component of their process is routine cleanliness testing—especially for their customers in the electronics and hard disk drive (HDD) industry.
“Routine cleanliness testing is a requirement for many electronic and disk drive companies,” Koch explained. “We work with their design engineers to determine the cleanliness levels that are needed to ensure that no gas or chemicals are present—or could be generated at operating condition temperatures—that would interfere with the electronic charge transfers, writing processes or other components.”
“This is critical to the development of products that have a guaranteed product lifetime of 10 to 20 years,” he added.
To ensure they’re delivering their customers the best and cleanest product, JDC often calls on Innovatech Labs for their cleanliness testing services.
“Our team has performed a wide variety of cleanliness tests for JDC over the years,” Jennifer Mathias, Lab Manager at Innovatech Labs, said. “Some of the techniques have included solvent extraction and analysis using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), ionic contamination testing for extractable anions and cations using ion chromatography (IC), and outgassing studies using dynamic headspace and gas chromatography and mass spectrometry (DHS-GC/MS).”
One of the biggest challenges JDC faces are the frequent changes their electronics and HDD customers make in regards to acceptable chemical levels.
“It is not unheard of, that one company wants the product to have these levels of chemicals, and another customer for the same product wants different materials reported,” Koch said.
And that’s where Innovatech Labs has been a huge help.
“Matthew Adams has been wonderful about modifying reports to meet different specifications—on numerous occasions,” Koch said. “We’ve also requested tests that don’t really exist, but Gary Smith has found ways to get the testing done through his contacts and experience.”
Beyond delivering clean and quality products that meet unique requirements, JDC’s routine cleanliness testing, along with their many years of experience, has also helped drive the development of their ultra clean adhesives, facestocks and liners—earning them “State of the Art” status in their industry and giving them a leg up on the competition.
“The automotive and healthcare industries in particular are all aiming at ultra clean products—and they need proof of that cleanliness,” Koch said. “Our routine cleanliness testing procedures are routinely better than our competition, and allow us to ensure we’re creating clean products and provide that proof to our customers.”
As for how JDC values Innovatech Labs’ services, Koch said: “My opinion of Innovatech Labs can be summed up by saying: ‘They’re No. 1 on my speed dial list.’”
Do you think cleanliness testing could help your company? Get in touch with Innovatech Labs today.
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