Tough times, tougher products
Have you noticed more and more products are using plastics today to make them “tougher” and more durable? Had an interesting conversation the other day with Mark Gilbertson of the industrial design firm InForm Product Development, a Kaysun partner, about the “ruggedization” trend – and wanted to share a few thoughts here.
Ruggedization is happening in virtually every market we serve. In the medical market, the growing importance of home-care based solutions means devices need to stand up to travel and deliver portability. In defense, the obvious drivers include demand for product designs that can endure significant impact and duress in a wide variety of weather conditions.
Two of the many drivers of this trend include:
- the economic downturn creating a “back-to-basics” movement stressing the importance of value and endurance, and
- the growing mobility of our society – increasing demand for personal electronics like laptops and cell phones that are smaller and lighter, yet capable of being dropped and “banged around.”
There’s more to cover on this topic, such as the role of plastics in ruggedization and the types of plastics best-suited to particular applications – that we’ll pick up in future blogs.
- Ben
