User:Tkpowell

FOD Camera Shadow Box System
FOD means Foreign Object Debris or Damage. The abbrevition is often used in aviation but is also becoming known in the semiconductor, medical, food and other industries. This terminology usually relates to some type of debris damaging a vehicle, aircraft, part or system. FOD costs many industries several billion dollars a year in direct costs. The unknown debris causes expensive and significant damage and at times has caused death.

In the United States, the most prominent gathering of FOD experts occurs at the annual National Aerospace FOD Prevention Conference. It is hosted in a different city each year by National Aerospace FOD Prevention, Inc. (NAFPI), a nonprofit association that focuses on FOD education, awareness and prevention. Conference information, including presentations from past conferences, is available at the NAFPI Web site.

While working with many client Plastic Engineering has created several FOD solutions for current industry problems. One of the solutions is an innovative shadow box system called the TPBS Camera Lightbox systm. The system allows a user to capture a drawer of tools with one picture. The picture is then converted to a CAD file and routed saving much time for shadow box users in the industry. Currently a shadow box user must cut out tool profiles by hand or physically mail the tool to a vendor to shadow. The turn around on this is usually 6-8 weeks or longer and can become an asset management nightmare. A recent study completed inside of Honeywell showed a shadow box user spends 52 hours to create 20 shadow boxes. Plastic Engineering's solution allows the same user to create the 20 shadow boxes in under an hour.

The second solution Plastic Engineering created were several unique materials called the Stata line. While working with a Raytheon location using ESD polycarbonate shadow boxes it was realized the ESD properties were not inherent of itself but rather topically coated worrying many users with how long the ESD properties would last. The first material created in 2008 was called Stata-Lene. The material is from the polyethylene family and offers inherent ESD properties eliminated industry worries. Plastic Engineering then created a second material called Stata-Cell which is of the foam family but more rigid. Currently in the industry most shadow boxes are made from LDPE (low density polyethylene foam) which quickly deteriorates and creates FOD flaking easily when tools are removed. Stata-Cell offer more rigidity eliminated flaking of the material and adding years to the shadow box shelf life.

These few solutions created by Plastic Engineering are revolutionizing the way shadow box users are making shadow boxes and out of what material. Plastic Engineering is dedicated to support the FOD industry and continue to offer cost and time saving solutions. You can see these solutions at www.PlasticEng.com or calling 480-491-8100.


 * FOD Camera Shadow Box System
 * examples: [http://www.plasticeng.com/fod-tool/fod-tool-control.html