ECONOMIC BENEFITS
A compound is always more expensive than dosing natural, masterbatch and additives yourself. After all, the company that supplies the compound must dose it itself and then extrude it. Then there is transport. In addition, it is common to be asked to keep several colours in stock. To meet this requirement, an expensive compound must be kept in stock of each colour. This makes the value of the stock very high. Therefore, self-dosing creates economic advantages (1). Finally, it often takes a lot of time to feed an extra colour.
LOGISTICAL ADVANTAGES
When materials are bought separately and are dosed before being processed, a lot of advantages arise. First of all, it is no longer necessary to have a large stock of each colour. The sable batch is dosed by the seer himself so that only the natural colour needs to be in stock in large quantities. Finding a masterbatch in a certain colour is relatively easy, which makes expanding the colours for the end product also easier. We see this as a logisticaladvantage (2).
FLEXIBILITY
By self-dosing, a colour can be added to the product portfolio more quickly. Masterbatch in colour is often easy to obtain, but a compound in a new colour is not. In addition, during the processing of material, release agents, UV additives, or flame retardants decay to a certain extent. When, for example, grinding sprues, tops and tails or edge strips are used, these additives have to be added again. In this way, one can be sure that a certain percentage has ended up in the end product. This addition is possible when one switches to self-dosing.
TRACEABILITY
By dosing yourself, a better burden of proof can be created. This is important for many industries, such as automotive, healthcare, food or medical. We call traceability (4) the ability to trace materials and verify what was actually used and in what quantity in the end product.
REPRODUCIBILITY
If one knows exactly which materials have been used and in what proportions, it is easier to do exactly the same thing at a different time. In other words, the chance that a machine will make the same end product 2 weeks later with the same settings is increased. By improving reproducibility (5), the quality of the end product becomes more constant.