Ardel Engineering Blog

Our new quality control manager, Michael Koch, has done his fair share of optimizing production processes. Michael began his QC career at a mid-sized medical device OEM in the Twin Cities, where he learned the twin sciences of efficiency improvement and process improvement. He then went on to work for a number of automotive and aerospace companies, where he became well-versed in making sure that all fabricated parts held up under intensive scrutiny, and that these parts had the tightest tolerances and highest levels of consistency possible. He came onboard with us at Ardel some five months ago, and has already proved himself invaluable when it comes to such skills as CMM metrology.

As part of an ongoing discussion about the various materials (both metallic and thermoplastic) that we work with at Ardel Engineering, we would like to discuss our experience working with PEEK polymer thermoplastics. 

Since PEEK – the acronym stands for Polyether ether ketone – is such a structurally robust thermoplastic, unusually resistant to high thermal concentrations, high pressure, and high levels of corrosion, it is sought after by performance-intensive industries of all stripes. 

Its uses in pistons for automotive engines, biochemical and analytical chemical separation processes, and even subatomic particle accelerators are all well-documented. Its expensiveness and its relative scarcity place it beyond the price-range of a lot of clientele. Usually the province of 1st tier suppliers, major international companies, and well-established research universities (as well as national and state governments), PEEK is something we excel at in several of our own fields of expertise.

Ardel can say with empirical certainty that our business traffic has picked up considerably. 

Whatever these unforeseeable times have in store for our country; whether we are still in the midst of a recession, a Great Recession, a recovery from recession, or a “dead cat bounce” that will ultimately lead us back into yet another stretch of recession; whatever the case may be for America, we at Ardel can say with empirical certainty that our business traffic has picked up considerably. 

New companies and clients in sectors we previously had little contact with seem suddenly to be knocking at our gates, asking for engineering advice, input, and – of course – our time and investment in their individual projects. We’ve been more than happy to oblige. Without naming any names, aerospace orders seem to be flocking our way, as are orders from companies involved with precision metrology. Word seems to be getting around that our engineering staff and state-of-the-art machinery aren’t just idle social media chitchat; that in fact these things are measured capabilities we are more than able to back up with results.

In what many considered a surprising move, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently appeared on NBC’s Today Show to announce a new Facebook feature that would soon be available for all the social media platform’s users to share: their organ donor status.

Apparently Mr. Zuckerberg’s medical student girlfriend, Priscilla Chan, inspired him to instigate the new social media status, since it would be an extremely easy way for those in need of a medical transplant to seek out a potentially life-saving donor. Previously, those searching for organ transplants would have to slog through a months-long, nebulous process that oftentimes involved them sorting through long miles of bureaucratic and insurance company red tape, or would even lead to less scrupulous customers shopping for organ transplants on the international black market.

Titanium is, without question, one of the most fundamentally important metals of 21st century construction.

Not only does titanium have cutting-edge applications in defense (the titanium hulls of US and Russian naval submarines, for instance) and space exploration (much of the metal that goes into government and commercial satellite technology is either titanium or a titanium-derived alloy), but it’s also become a critical component of today’s medical industry. The 81st element in the Periodic Table has attributes that make it indispensable for use in reconstructive surgery, dental implants, cardiovascular devices, and external prostheses.

First discovered in 1951 by Nobel Prize-winning German chemist Hermann Staudinger, and first synthesized by DuPont chemists the year after, Delrin, otherwise known by its scientific name of polyoxymethylene, has been manufactured on an industrial scale since 1960.

Celebrated for its structural rigidity, stability, and light weight, in addition to its wear resistance and electrical conductivity, Delrin is a thermoplastic used for making both moldable grade and machine-able grade components for durable, high-performance parts. It comes in various colors and can be blended with other compounds to improve its mechanical properties. 

We’ve noticed a twofold trend in today’s manufacturing world.

On the one hand, there’s an ever-growing need for ever more specific, individualized products and components with high precision tolerances. Oftentimes the work order involves designing or fabricating a one-off or a prototype for a highly customized application. But on the other hand, there’s another trend at work: the need for ever more competitive pricing; the need for greater production volume that uses leaner manufacturing; the need for higher quality parts and products with lower environmental impact, quicker turnaround, and the like. Somewhere in the middle of all this turbulence and paradox, a manufacturer needs to stand on solid ground, and know what he or she is all about.

On December 31 of last year, a new defense bill was signed into law that further oversees the Pentagon’s transition away from a Cold War-style footing.

Predicated on the assumption that American forces will no longer be tasked with winning two simultaneous wars, the bill calls for a reduction of 80,000 soldiers from the Army; 20,000 soldiers from the Marines; and a significant reduction in human-piloted aircraft for the Air Force.

This is not to say that the DoD is getting stinted as far as new money. In fact, defense spending will actually increase over the next few years, just not as quickly as was originally intended. So, what is this new money going to be spent on? In a word, drones.

There’s something we’ve been celebrating here at Ardel Engineering that we’d like to share with you.

Our company recently achieved its ninth consecutive year of ISO compliance without a single negative finding. As our ISO 9001:2008 and ISO 13485 medical re-certifications imply, we are keeping constant with quality standards for industries of all types.

Given the hard work we’ve put in this past year, this certification certainly doesn’t come as much of a surprise. All the same, we view it as a sign of how far we’ve come as a custom manufacturer in under a decade, and that it heralds the shape of things to come for us this year and beyond.