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Philips Medical awards key supplier status to Maxtech Circuit
In Oct 2008 Maxtech Circuit was awarded status as a Key Supplier to Philips Medical. This decision was based on a complex formula taking into account the sensitive nature of over 16 components and assemblies (keypads, rubber buttons, cable assemblies) that Maxtech Circuit currently manufactures for Philips Medical. Over the past 6 years Maxtech Circuit has been working with Philips Medical to develop new products for use in Medical Facilities, Public Venues and Homes. Our engineering, manufacturing, and quality teams have spent countless hours working with the Philips Medical group to make sure that all of the customer’s expectations are met precisely to specification and on time delivery with cost reductions wherever possible. These factors in addition to our key supplier status have allowed us to achieve a rating of 93 out of 100 on our annual internal Philips Medical Supplier Audit which puts Maxtech Circuit among the highest rated suppliers for Philips leading the areas of both quality and innovation.
Clean Room
Class 1000 clean room has been completed and in operation for over a year now. This area is dedicated to assembly of membrane switches with optically clear windows. A Class 1000 room allows less than 1 micron sized particulate matter in the room. This is an appropriate standard for the optical bonding process for laminating flexible and rigid lense materials together without contamination. This includes not only plastic lenses but also the transparent membrane switch commonly known as the touchscreen, For instance, 4 wire, 5 wire analog and custom digital resistive touchscreens.
Solder Reflow
New equipment allows MC to take control of the component soldering process for leds, resistors and other smt components providing improved quality solder joints. Traditionally this is an outsourced function of a membrane switch manufacturer, the step of controlling this step of the process internally versus outsourced will continue the imporvement in quality of membrane switches produced using copper flex and printed circuit boards.
Quick Turn Prototypes
Maxtech Circuit now offers quick turn protoypes for custom membrane switch keypads. Using new laser and innovative temporary embossing tools, the dedicated team of engineers on this project are manufacturing samples to customer specifications in 3 to 5 days. Benefits to customers include drastically reduced lead times and tooling costs. Get your own quick turn protoype by providing the available graphics and layouts to Maxtech Circuit membrane switch sales department.
New Duraswitch Rotor Design
Maxtech Circuit reaches a new milestone in their collaborative work with Duraswitch. The first 200 preproduction pieces have been manufactured and are ready for extended durability testing. Oroginal samples were tested to 600,000 rotations without failure. The new round of testing will establish repeatability and durability of the componenets. In conjunction with standard rotor the development is planned for push button versions. Watch for more updated information as the process continues.
Sales Sample Kit
Promotional example for buyers to examine the quality of workmanship, provides various configurations of membrane switch constructions. This allows a designer or a buyer to get the tactile feel, visual aesthetic of the different switch types. This is a stepping stone to the upcoming publication of a technical sample guide that will help bridge the user, customer, designer, buyer and all other participants involved in the development process. Samples are available upon request to qualified recipients. The use of samples in the process has been proven to save time and money.
ASTM Membrane Switch Subcommittee
Alan, Chairman of ASTM Subcommittee on Membrane Switches since 1991is extending his tenure for the 33 Test Methods that have been published since 1991.
Most recent is F2592 Force Displacement Test Method that complete describes the Force, Displacement and Resistance measurement and analysis of a membrane switch. The new "Tactile Response Slope" and "Tactile Recovery Slope" has replaced F1570 Tactile Ratio that only was a function of Force. |