Process technology transfer for polymer composite curing

Technology developments for materials and processing often have a difficult time making the transition from development laboratories to production. Sometimes this is due to inherent limitations of the technology. More often it is due to a combination of costs (for new equipment, training and/or certification) and resistance to change. Equipment and certification costs may be unavoidable. However, costs for certification and the resistance to change may be a function of the way in which the transition is handled. This paper describes some of the problems and approaches for transitioning a process from a research organization to a larger scale development. Two types of processes were transferred. The first was a typical time-temperature cure cycle from a specification. The second task involved the transfer of a qualitative process strategy using dielectric measurements for feedback control. Dielectric measurements were taken in all cases to verify the timing of pressure application. Transition was not accomplished without difficulty in either case, providing some lessons for future attempts. This paper will present some of those lessons along with recommendations for technology transfer.