The Overview
Owned and operated by two brothers, Polyset Company is focused on designing CASE (Coatings, Adhesives, Sealants & Elastomers) systems around the customer need and the industry demand.
The company got its start in 1980 by selling adhesives for the air filtration industry—a niche market that is driven by unique application requirements for each customer. Polyset’s strengths in custom formulation and quick turnaround allowed it to become the market leader in the area.
Although the air filtration market was the bread and butter for Polyset, and put them on the map, the Ghoshal brothers understood that if they wanted to continue to grow their business, they’d have to explore and expand into other sectors. And expand they did …. Polyset is now a key player in construction adhesives—manufacturing expansion joint systems that are used to handle the movement of bridges and roadways between the four seasons; in contract manufacturing—manufacturing adhesives for other companies; and going direct-to-market with manufacturing inorganic coatings for steel for the marine and petrochemical industries.
The Challenge
Because of the growth and expansion into multiple markets, Polyset was faced with producing dozens of more products, while still meeting the expectations of their customers. Additionally, because they were producing various types of adhesives for differing industries, some of which had to be tested to ISO and ASTM standards, they needed to be sure their testing system was up for the challenge. They realized their capabilities were limited with their 15 year old existing system and its capacity & sensitivity didn’t match the new testing requirements.
The Solution
After researching options for their growing company, Polyset decided to change directions and go with a new materials testing equipment manufacturer, purchasing a 3344 testing system from Instron®.
With a smooth implementation and training once the system was installed, the Instron system receives regular usage by the lab technicians, who find it easy to use and easy to train newer technicians—especially on the Bluehill® Lite Software.
And although the 3344 is a single column system, whereas their old system was a dual column, they gained a higher testing capacity and are able to meet the testing demands of their various products. The variety of options available for the testing system (XL extensometer, multiple grips, etc.) has allowed Polyset to tune the use of the Instron to their specific material set.
The Results
The Polyset Company has seen a cost savings they didn’t expect due to the fact that they now have the capability to do all of their testing in house, instead of having to outsource. Additionally, they have seen an increase in throughput in research and development, which is important as Polyset continues to reach out for new markets and greater expansion.