Unless you’re a design engineer of custom made tubing you may not be as curious as to how custom tubing is made, or why it is important to consider custom tubes specifications closely before embarking on the manufacturing process.
More often times than not, tube designers push the manufacturing envelope when they design custom made tube with requirements that are not necessarily advantageous for the products intended use. It’s not intentional to make the manufacturing process of custom tube more difficult, rather a goal of developing the perfect end product.
But what they should be asking themselves during the design phase is, what are our critical requirements for this product? Otherwise, what is often realized too late can be costly and also cause delays in production of the custom made tube. To avoid such stumbling blocks, there are several criteria that tube designers should consider during the custom tubing planning process:
Material specification. Have you considered the best thermoplastic suited to the application of the custom made tube?
Configuration. Are your design specifications realistic so that the custom tubes can be manufactured?
Manufacturability. Is your design dimensions and tolerances feasible and would you consider re-evaluating your tolerances to facilitate the process of making a high quality custom made tube more efficiently?
From the time that plastic was first introduced into mass production, custom tubing companies have been afforded the opportunity to create a myriad of products from extruded plastic rods to single-lumen tubing. And like the world of imagination, custom made tubes have endless possibilities, but proper planning will make it a success.