TM Electronics, Inc.
45 Main Street, Boylston, MA 01505
Phone: (508) 869-6400
E-mail: sales@tmelectronics.com
Website: www.tmelectronics.com

For Immediate Release
01/04/2010

Do-it-yourself Leak Testers for your OEM product? Uh, oh...

Imagine yourself as the project manager for one of your company's new products, perhaps a new diagnostic instrument, or the next step up in communications devices. Your engineers and designers are experts in their field, so you know you are getting optimal results. They work in partnership with dedicated equipment manufacturers to be sure each specific component is the most appropriate for your application. They develop comprehensive relationships with their suppliers for technical support should any problems develop downstream, and they are confident that they have direct access to the most recent developments.

Your engineering resources are focusing on their own areas of expertise, to your great benefit. Why, then, would you expect them to spend time and energy devising a leak test system for your product that may give you less-than-desirable results? Is it truly time- or money-saving to develop a package testing process in-house, or to buy a leak tester off-the-shelf, that may or may not allow you to comply with the regulations or guidance necessary to bring your completed product to market?

Leak test system developers like those at TM Electronics are specialists, and can recommend and implement specific approaches to your product's unique testing needs. A leak tester that is effective for high-speed, low-sensitivity testing of snack packs will not be appropriate for measuring leakage from a closed medical device. A pass-fail instrument may not provide the documentation you need for proactive process control when your prototype reaches the production stage. You may not want or need to test your very sophisticated, expensive device destructively. Partnering with a leak tester company that understands leak science will allow your engineers to participate in the selection of a test system that best balances your need for sensitivity, traceability and accuracy with cost consciousness.

The cost of an appropriate test system for your product or package may be appreciable, but the cost of failure to detect seal weakness, leakage at welds or pinholes in barrier material could be even more significant. If manufacturing problems develop, large amounts of product could be lost if changes are not recognized early. Quality issues during transport or shelf life could negatively affect the end user's experience. Worst of all, failure in the field could lead to recalls, injuries and lawsuits.

It is important that while your engineers are concentrating on their areas of expertise, they be involved with your leak test system applications engineers. Design of the test system will require that the leak testing partner have access to the parts to be tested or engineering drawings of a prototype product. The two groups of engineers, yours and the experienced applications engineers at TM Electronics, will then work together to develop the best test system performance available within your testing budget. TM Electronics will provide an ongoing resource to your team while freeing them to concentrate on their number one project: yours.

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