Polymer, Elastomer, & Thermoplastic Manufacturing

In-House Intelligence for a Better Product

At CDI Products, we’re not just another polymer products manufacturing vendor. Yes, we produce polymer parts like plastic seals and rubber wear rings. Yes, we have a team of skilled machinists, operators, and technicians who drive our day-to-day operations. Yes, we execute more than 30 polymer manufacturing processes integrated with cutting-edge digital technology on any given day.

But it’s our engineering, design expertise, and materials knowledge that makes us a truly valuable partner to our customers. Before any material is ever poured, injected, extruded, molded, or machined on our factory floor, our customers know they’re getting the highest quality and most consistent outcomes.

That’s because we maintain oversight of production every step of the way. Onsite quality and safety teams coupled with our smart manufacturing capabilities help transform ideas into reliable manufacturable solutions for the world’s most vital industries.

5 Benefits of Vertical Integration in Manufacturing

Tip Sheet

5 Benefits of Vertical Integration in Manufacturing

TIP SHEET

5 Benefits of Vertical Integration in Manufacturing

Our Polymer Products Manufacturing Capabilities

“How quickly can you deliver a quality product?” This is an essential question for our customers. As a vertically integrated manufacturer, we can deliver a wide array of products to suit our customers’ specifications and solve their most critical components challenges.

We can provide rapid response with expertise on hand for evolving project needs. We can safeguard the quality of the product through its full life cycle. We can also support safety and sustainability with continuous improvement initiatives that translate to benefits for the customer, their personnel, and the global community.

We can do all this and oversee the production, translating to shorter lead times and more on-demand production. To see how we do that, here are some insights on our three most valuable polymer manufacturing processes.

Custom Injection Molding

Molding is shaping a pliable material using a rigid frame. When molding plastics, a powder or liquid polymer is injected into a hollow mold so the polymer can take its shape. Depending on the type of process used, various ranges of heat and pressure are used to create an end product. Our molding capabilities include:

Plastic and Rubber Injection Molding
Compression Molding
- Rubber
- Vacuum assisted
- Thermoplastic
- PTFE
Isostatic Molding
Transfer Molding
Mesh Molding
Melt Molding
Thermoforming
Class 1000 Cleanroom for PTFE Molding

Extrusion

Extrusion is a process that creates objects of a fixed cross-sectional profile. A polymer material is pushed through a die of the desired cross-section, resulting in components with excellent surface finish and design freedom. Our extrusion capabilities include:

Melt Extrusion (Thermoplastics)
Ram Extrusion (PTFE)
Preform Extrusion (Elastomers)

Machining

Plastics machining is the process of removing layers of polymer material to shape and form the end part. We offer machining for plastics, elastomers, composites, and more. Our machining capabilities include:

CNC Machining
CNC Milling
Metal Machining
Rubber Machining
Screw Machining
Large Diameter Machining (up to 100in / 254cm)

More Manufacturing Capabilities

In addition to molding, extrusion, and machining we also offer:

Calendering
Fine Grinding
Laser Marking
Filament and Spring Winding
Surface Prep, Sintering, and Annealing
Composite Fabrication
Material Blending
Assembly and Kitting

Driving Better Solutions With Smart Manufacturing

Data, analytics, and automation have transformed our factory floor. With predictive maintenance, data-driven real-time awareness, and greater traceability, our customers benefit from increased productivity and faster turnaround times. We also have high-volume robotic cells on the shop floor and collaborative robots (cobots) working with our team each day. Here are just a few of the steps we’ve taken to become a digital enterprise:

Fully connected equipment provides situational awareness and a thread of digital information for every product we manufacture. That means every component can be traced, and any errors quickly identified.
For high-volume operations, process automation removes manual steps and reduces human error, enabling us to leverage skilled workers for more advanced operations.
A fully connected facility improves energy management, materials storage, and inventory management — all process improvements that allow us to meet tight deadlines and high standards for quality.

These smart strategies, along with our continuous drive to incorporate emerging technology into everything we do, helps us to offer the most streamlined, efficient, and productive manufacturing experience for our partners.

Our Commitment to the Future

We all have a part to play in protecting the planet. That’s why CDI has adopted ambitious goals for long-term sustainability in polymer manufacturing, including drastically reducing our overall environmental impact. To be good stewards of our environment, we look at the environmental impact of both our operations and our products.

We’re continually adopting innovative ways to reduce, reuse, and recycle across all of our manufacturing processes as we push toward a more sustainable future in manufacturing.

Polymer Manufacturing