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Plastic Sheet Supplier Near Me: The Benefits of Local

Plastic Sheet Supplier Near Me: The Benefits of Local

Why choose a local Performance Plastic Sheet Supplier

One of the latest trends across many different industries has been the push for supporting local businesses, especially with the events of the pandemic in recent years. However, this isn’t just a trend–choosing to source your plastic from a local plastic sheet supplier is also an excellent and beneficial economic opportunity. There are plenty of advantages to why you should buy your plastic sheets from a local supplier.

Less waste–in time, money, and resources

Choosing to source your plastic from a local supplier means that you not only will support the local economy, but you also often get to bypass many of the expenses associated with importing and exporting international goods. In addition, there are fewer transportation costs, with a local supplier being closer geographically than another supplier might be.

A closer geographical location to you also means that you’ll receive much shorter lead times on your quotes. With less distance to travel, you can receive your plastic sheets much more quickly than if you don’t source them locally.

Improved Environmental Impact

Large Inventory of Performance Plastic Sheet and Rod, in stock here in Anaheim, CA

Industrial Plastic Supply of Anaheim California

With reduced transportation comes less environmental impact. This doesn’t just mean less harmful emissions into the atmosphere, but also less use of resources, especially nonrenewable ones like fuel. Less fuel consumption doesn’t just promote the efficient use of resources–it also tends to lead to lower transportation costs as well! Shorter distance–less costs and a smaller carbon footprint.

Better Control over Product and Quality

Often, local plastic suppliers provide much better product quality and customer service, because they take the time to understand the needs and preferences of their customers. The proximity of choosing a local supplier also helps to ensure a timely delivery, reducing the potential for disruptions on your project. They’ll also likely be more available and efficient when serving local customers, able to offer quicker lead times based on the shorter geographical distance.

This insures the best quality materials and timely replenishment of popular items.

Looking for an expert plastic sheet supplier?

Industrial Plastic Supply has been in the business since 1975, located right in the heart of Orange County, CA. Check out our website to see our full inventory of plastic materials.

Finding a Quality Performance Plastic Sheet Supplier

Finding a Quality Performance Plastic Sheet Supplier

Best Methods for Choosing a Quality Performance Plastic Sheet and Rod Supplier

Finding a plastic sheet supplier might seem like a monumental task with all the different suppliers out there – but there are a few ways that you can narrow down your choices.

Here are five key factors to consider when you’re looking for a quality supplier of plastic sheets.

1) Where do they source their plastic materials?

With many dozen manufacturers through out North America, and many more in far off lands, it is important to know who makes your material. Material sources from North America has been considered the premier quality in Performance Plastic materials. Not only is the quality of extruded or molded sheets and rods important, but also the long process of secondary annealing. This removes residual stress from the material, and this will produce a better finished part with reduced warp and twist and even center-line cracking. Not only should the materials look good, they must machine well without cracking. Quality matters.

2) Do they carry what you need?

This might seem straightforward, but it is one of the most important things to keep in mind, especially if you’re looking for large-scale products or highly specialized resins. Often, different plastic suppliers will specialize in resins with similar end uses as well, so it’s important that you find one that understands the requirements of your particular industry. Many suppliers are actually ‘brokers’ and don’t really have a warehouse with material ‘in stock’. Look for a supplier that has a wide variety of quality performance plastics in stock and ready for you to pick up.

3) Do they meet your quality standards?

Many plastic suppliers have to meet particular certifications and regulatory compliance standards, especially if they want to maintain a professional and accurate business. The bare minimum for a quality plastic sheet supplier is an updated ISO 9001 quality management system and ITAR compliance, but there are several other standards and material certifications available as well, such as ANSI and RoHS compliance, which ensure that the supplier does not sell or consume unethical products in the course of their business. Are the customer service staff members certified by an outside agency?

4) Don’t forget communication and customer service

Good communication is important in any supplier-customer relationship. A quality plastic sheet supplier will communicate professionally and quickly with you, and they will be transparent about their products, quality certifications and compliance, and their capabilities. Many suppliers have reviews or testimonials on their websites that you can read to get a better idea of their service–or you can contact them directly as well. The best customer service companies have trained staff, in the plastic industry one of the keys to a trained staff would be are they IAPD (International Association of Plastic Distribution) certified?

5) Balance quality and price

Huge in stock inventory of Performance Plastic Rod

With all of the plastic suppliers out there, it’s important to find one that not only meets your standards of quality, but also offers you competitive pricing. Balancing the quality of the material you receive with the budget set out for it is an important task when choosing a plastic supplier. Sourcing all High Performance Plastic materials from North American manufactures helps to insure quality products, and at a competitive price. While not the cheapest, the quality of North American Performance Plastic is second to none!

Choose Industrial Plastic Supply, Inc. for your Performance Plastic needs

If you are looking for a quality plastic sheet supplier, then you should consider Industrial Plastic Supply, Inc.  We have been in the business since 1975 and maintain a vast and varied inventory of performance plastic materials, all sourced from North American Manufacturers, and are proud of our trained customer service staff – all IAPD certified.

Industrial Plastic Supply, Inc. also Check out our website to learn more.  

Got Milk… jugs? Now made from HDPE

Got Milk… jugs? Now made from HDPE

Why food safe HDPE plastic replaced glass as the go-to milk container.

Many of you, should you be older than 60, may remember the “Milk Man”. This delivery service from decades ago, was a most common way of transporting milk to the consumer. Back then, suppliers used glass bottles, delivered by this milk man, right to your front door.

HDPE is Food Safe

When looking at alternatives, the milk processing industry found a use and benefit from replacing the glass with a plastic called High Density Polyethylene (HDPE). But what is HDPE, and what are the benefits of using it?

Why HDPE replace Glass Bottles

Glass is heavy, HDPE plastic is light

One of the characteristics of this thermoplastic is the weight of the material. The reason this is so beneficial brings us back to the milk jug. Old style glass milk containers could hold 32 oz., with the empty glass weighing 1.25 lbs. An empty gallon water or milk jug (128 oz.) weighs in at only 0.25 lbs, and holds 4 times more volume. When full, the milk jug can hold more volume than the glass bottle without compromising the strength, especially when being transported. This lowers the overall transport time and significantly reduces the cost of shipping.

This drop in weight and large increase in capacity is why the industry made the switch. The attribute of high durability in plastic materials like HDPE is known as the “strength to weight ratio”. As already mentioned, this was a huge benefit from switching to HDPE containers – the impact it has on transport costs. The high impact resistance of the material allows for easy transport. The HDPE jugs can withstand the jarring and bumping that is a natural part of mass transit, with almost zero wear or breakage to the product. Compared to the glass bottle, too hard of a turn or a pothole in the road could lead to the disheartening sound of shattering glass… not an ideal result for the distributing company. The HDPE impact resistance still holds true through out the supply chain, and even when the containers enter a store or home. If a HDPE milk jug should fall, the plastic container may spill, but it won’t cause the harm or damage that glass would. Broken glass poses a hazard and a risk, whereas plastic in this case can be easily cleaned, recycled, and used again.

When discussing this topic, the argument of recycling and sustainability sets its sights on plastics. In reality, the carbon footprint of plastics is much smaller than that of glass. The amount of heat necessary to heat up plastic for recycling is dramatically lower than that of glass, making it more sustainable in the long run. Yes, both are 100% recyclable, but the amount of fuel necessary plays a big factor. The temperature needed for melting and processing HDPE is between 248 and 356°F depending on grade. Whereas glasHDPE is 100% recycables materials requires a minimum temperature of 2,600°F, according to SeattlePI. As you can see, these temperatures are very different, and shows why the life cycle of plastic is more eco-friendly and a better option to preserve our environment.

Immensely versatile HDPE applications

HDPE has many more uses, like in structural tanks, FDA approved cutting boards and industrial piping systems. This material outweighs most alternatives in benefits due to it’s cost and performance, and is produced in sheet and rod by many major manufacturers in the USA. HDPE plastics are FDA and NSF approved for food applications, making HDPE a food safe product for most food processing and packing applications. For more details on HDPE and it’s benefits see Industrial Plastic Supply or call 866-832-9315

What other applications could benefit from newer and improved materials to make our world safer, cleaner and more efficient?

Co-author: Graham Hess

New Performance Plastics Making Metals Obsolete

New Performance Plastics Making Metals Obsolete

Metals have been around for a very long time

The history of metals is thought to have begun with the use of copper about 11,000 years ago. Gold, silver, iron, lead, and even some brass began to be used before the first known appearance of bronze in the 5th millennium BCE High Quality Performance Plastics are replacing Metals

Artifacts made of smelted iron have been found dating from about 3000 BC in Egypt and Mesopotamia. In those times, iron was a ceremonial metal; it was far too expensive to be used in everyday life. Metals are commonly very stiff, tough and strong. However, they are also generally quite heavy. Also, the cost to heat metal to production temperatures is extremely high, over 5 times that of Performance Plastic materials. When metals corrode they get smaller, and many can decompose to yield rust.

In comparison, plastics only were first made in the early 1900’s. The world’s first known fully synthetic plastic was bakelite (now days considered Phenolic), and was invented in New York in 1907 by Leo Baekeland who coined the term ‘plastics’. Since this date, thousands of chemists and material scientists have synthesized dozens of plastic base materials. Plastic materials are currently available in over 80 types, and each of these are molded or processed at slightly different temperatures. The wide range of performance plastic materials will allow you to choose the perfect material for your next application.

Some of The Advantages of New Performance Plastic Materials

New Higher Temperature Performance Plastic Materials

New Performance Plastic materials like Victrex 450g PEEK and Sabic Ultem 1000 have much higher use temperatures over previous performance plastic materials. The Ultem 1000 unfilled has a continual use temperature above 400 degrees F, while the newer Victrex 450g PEEK materials work well at 480 degrees F on a continuous basis. In addition to the higher temperatures, they are still food grade materials.

Most plastic materials can typically be molded in a temperature range of 400 to 600 degree F. While steel starts to melt at 2,500 degrees F. This is five times the temperature, meaning it takes 5 times the energy to convert steel instead of plastic. Lower temperatures equates to lower costs of production.

New Lower Weight Materials

The average plastic weighs just 20% of the average metal product. Many plastics have exceptional weight to strength ratios, meaning that for the weight of the product they are very strong. This low weight means much less raw materials and less impact on the environment if using plastics over metals. This results in lower cost to manufacture parts from plastics over metal.

For instance, new UV grades of HDPE or High Density Polyethylene are very light, with a density of just .96, so light it floats in water. And yet, this new UV grade of HDPE is a workhorse in the plastic market, and is used to replace wood and metals in outdoor furniture.

New Detectable Materials For Food Contact Approved

Most Performance Plastic materials were engineered to be food contact compliant, and in most cases FDA approved for food contact. With the increase in food recalls, finding the proper materials to ensure that our foods are safe is imperative. Materials like Acetal Copolymer, Acetal Homopolymer, Nylon, Ultem 1000 and Victrex 450g PEEK are all FDA approved for direct food contact.

Which Performance Plastic Will Work The Best

Here are some new performance plastic material grades that include additives to make these materials detectable during food processing. These newly released detectable products include Tecaform AH UD (copolymer acetal base), Tecapeek UD Blue (PEEK based) and Hydex 4101 UD Blue PBT – Polyester base). Each of these new performance plastic materials comes in Blue color to be detected by color sensors during food processing. The “UD” portion allows these materials to be detected by X-Ray and Metal Detection scanners in food processing production lines. Using these new detectable performance plastic materials in food processing plants can help to eliminate food contamination issues and massive food recalls.

Recent Rising Costs Of Transportation

Changes in transportation rules and regulations since 2018 have made shipping raw materials significantly more expensive. Weight, size restrictions and surcharges for longer packages have more than doubled in the last year.

This has made one of the most expensive components of materials reaching the marketplace is transportation costs, and over the last several years the costs of moving materials across the country has skyrocketed. Metals are heavy, and this weight makes many items very expensive to transport.

Each step in the production of a finished good generally involves shipping to the next step. Raw material converted into base material, then base material converted into usable shape. Later this shape is turned into a component or part. Each time there is a conversion, there normally is shipping to the next processor. Metal weight can limit the amount of metal that can be moved at one time, where plastics can ship up to five times more product per truckload.

With performance plastics, often the conversion in small factories that can be located near final assembly of components limits the amount of shipping of plastic parts. Also, due to the light weight of plastics, trucks can hold up to five times the amount of plastic over metals for shipping. Many plastic parts are made very close to where they will be consumed, cutting logistics fees. This five times the weight also translates to five times higher cost to ship metals. This reduction of transportation costs moves more profit to the bottom line.

New Performance Plastic Materials Eliminate Need For Lubrication

Often, on large metal parts or assemblies, grease ports are added to make lubricating the metal parts easy. Metal on metal parts will wear out very quickly, and therefore require regular service and lubrication.

Newly released performance plastic materials have made lubrication obsolete. One such material is a new compounded Nylon material, called Nylatech PVM has FDA approved oil additives. This new Cast Nylon material runs well for extended periods without external lubrication. This material runs quieter and smoother than previously used metal parts due to a much lower coefficient of friction, and requires no regular maintenance.

Another new grade of Performance Plastic material that is rated as ‘self-lubricating’, and have excellent wear resistance is Lub-X UHMW, which now makes curves in bottling plants move smoother, quieter and require no lubrication. These long wearing and high strength materials outperform most other substrate for low cost, high performance, low weight and self lubrication.

Each of these plastic advantages yield cost savings and long product life. Along with these new areas of advantage, Performance Plastics are 100% recyclable, and can be reprocessed into high strength parts again and again. The plastic recycling industry is still in its infancy, and as it becomes more adept at recycling and reusing valuable plastic materials, our planet and our pocket books will benefit.

Best Methods To Pick The Proper Plastic Sheet Materials

Best Methods To Pick The Proper Plastic Sheet Materials

Best Tools To Assist In Your Plastic Sheet Search

Use the best available tools to narrow down the best plastic sheet material for your application.

What are the best methods to pick the proper plastic sheet material?
Use the tools that the professionals use to find the best plastic material for your application.

Where To Begin

The process of picking the proper plastic material starts with determining the ‘must have’ physical properties needed for your application. Designing a part with the minimum performance factors in mind will help to eliminate an overly
expensive part.

Critical factors to consider are:

  • Temperature requirements (short term and long term)
  • Chemical or Environmental Requirements
  • UV resistance (Will it be in direct sunlight)
  • Color or Transparency
  • Strengths (Impact and Compression)
  • Compliance Issues (Certification for FDA, NSF, Dairy, etc.)

Review The Plastic Property Comparison Guide

The first tool suggested is a chart produced by the IAPD (International Association of Plastic Distribution – http://iapd.org/) linked in picture below, and listed on this chart are the most common plastic sheet and plastic rod materials that are commonly available. In addition, the chart compares the physical properties of these common plastic materials. Click on picture to access chart.IAPD Plastic Selection Rectangle Chart
Included in this chart is a relative cost comparison, which will assist in limiting the materials to proper plastics for a application without over-designing and using an expensive ‘over kill’ material. Some common plastic sheet materials can be very expensive. Materials like PEEK (PolyEtherEtherKetone) can be in the $100 per pound range or more.

Start Search With Temperature Resistance

After looking over the IAPD (International Association of Plastic Distribution) Physical Properties Chart above, now it is time to evaluate specifics for your application. The critical factors listed above are ranked by most important to least important. If your part needs to handle a continuous temperature of 300 degrees F, this is a critical physical property. Picking a material that softens at 250 degrees is a
recipe for disaster. Pick a material that can handle the temperature first.

Will Part Have Chemical Exposure

Next, look at environmental requirements. Parts exposed to chemicals are important to research. Find the chemical make up and the concentration of the chemical to insure the material you pick can handle this solution. Many plastics have excellent chemical resistance as evidenced by evaluating the container the chemicals are stored in already. A common plastic that is chemical resistant is Polypropylene, the same material used for automotive batteries. While Polypropylene and HDPE sheets are excellent in chemical resistance, their temperature range is quite limited. Also, these two plastics can not be easily bonded or glued, and would require heat welding for assembly.

Does Your Part Live In The Sun

Most plastics do not handle long exposure to direct sunlight without an additional UV additive. The one exception is Acrylic, which is the most UV resistant plastic sheet available. Some plastics handle UV well if they have a carbon black additive, or a extra UV package added at time of production.

How Critical Is The Color

The most common colors in many plastic sheets are Natural (white to tan) and Black. While other colors are available with a special run, this may require a large minimum order. Some plastics, like HDPE are available in many colors and textures for use in marine, playground and food processing applications. In many plastic applications, a machined part is being made, and the color is the least important factor. If it is an internal part of a machine, no one really cares about the color of the part. Some clients look for materials in a specific color to help ‘brand’ their parts for easy replacement and identification.

Nylon with huge amount of stress, cooled too quickly

Nylon with huge amount of stress, cooled too quickly.

How Much Stress Will The Part See

Strength is a wide range of physical properties covering many stresses a part may be exposed to. From impact to compression, expansion to tensile strength, all of these can be critical in designing a plastic part. There are other factors in the ‘Strength’ realm, like Notched Izod and water absorption. If your part will be exposed to crushing pressure, pulling apart force or impact, these are critical things to consider prior to picking your plastic part.

PTFE is a soft and slippery plastic, but will ‘cold flow’ under high pressure, and High Pressure Laminates like G-10 FR 4 sheet can withstand some of the highest pressures. The Notched Izod tests for materials that break easily if a scored mark has been made in the surface. Acrylics break very easily if scored, but UHMW will not break at all under the same test.

What Agency Approval May Be Required

In many applications a part may require approval or testing to meet a third party certification. One such common application is for materials in food processing applications. Common requests included UL ratings, Fire Ratings, Military specifications and many more. Food contact is a popular request, covering material that is either FDA (Food and Drug Administration) or NSF (National Sanitation Foundation) approved. These agencies insure that materials are rigorously tested and comply with their requirements for safety. Some common materials used in food processing that meet the FDA certification are Acetal Copolymer – Acetal Homopolymer, HDPE, UHMW and Nylon, plus many others.
Once these steps have been completed, several materials should present themselves as meeting your criteria and physical property requirement. Unfortunately there is no one perfect plastic that works in all applications. However, for almost every application, there is a material that will work, and work better than most other substrates.

Cool Online Tool

There is also an additional tool that can be used to help identify some of these properties quickly, the Gehr Plastic Selector online application.

If you are still in need of assistance in identifying an appropriate plastic material, contact an experienced Plasticologist at Industrial Plastic Supply, Inc. – call 866-832-9315

Also see the article, New Methods To Pick Proper Plastic Sheet Materials, for additional information on this subject.

Why Plastic Materials Get A Bad Reputation

Why Plastic Materials Get A Bad Reputation

Why Plastic Materials Are Unfairly Blamed

Plastics have been around for over a century now, and are used in almost every industry and application. The problem is that society has made the plastics industry the poster child for waste, trash and pollution. This is unfair, and factually incorrect.

Plastic materials are lighter, cost less to produce, use less electrical power to produce, and are safer for use. It is not new phenomenon that a material or product, once used, gets thrown away. This is the normal life cycle of many materials. Some inexpensive plastic materials used in consumer goods are made to throw away once the item has been purchased. Things like the indestructible packing we fight on kids toys, the cheap plastic sporks from restaurants, the prolific plastic water bottles and of course, the plastic grocery bags. All of these materials are 100% recyclable, the hitch is that it requires a little effort to recycle.

Are Plastic Materials The Cause?Glass bottles weigh 16 times more than plastic bottles

On the positive side, the products that plastic currently replaces are much larger, heavier and generally cost more to produce, and use more energy to produce. This means, that the large amount of plastics that are not being properly disposed of, are replacing much larger quantities of materials that would not be recycled. I still remember times when I was a kid, and seeing tin cans in the lakes and rivers when out fishing. People polluting with their trash is not a new thing, now it is just a different group of materials.

Thermoplastic plastic materials are recyclable, and can be used over and over again. Generally, the recycled product would not be for a Food or Medical application. A common use of recycled plastic is with the collected milk jugs and detergent bottles, both HDPE, can be ground and turned into plastic lumber. The plastic lumber can be used to replace standard wood products for decks and outdoor furniture, and it will last for 15 – 20 years with no maintenance or painting. The cost savings and reduced use of natural resources for this one product can be staggering. The color doesn’t fade, it wood won’t split or crack, and it continues to look good for up to two decades.

Our recent article, “Plastic Material Bad Reputation – How did we get here?“, we discuss the factors that have lead to the ‘throw away’ society that we have become. Much of this bad reputation is for products that are designed as one use and then designed to be thrown away. So, if we are to change the bad reputation, companies need to change this design flaw, and start using materials for applications that can be reused easily.

If we can minimize the use of throw away plastics, and recycle the plastic material once we are done with it, we can help to limit plastic in land fills.HDPE laundry detergent bottles recycled into usable plastic lumber

The blame for plastic pollution should be placed…on people. The plastic is not the cause of the problem, it is the litter-bug and irresponsible individuals that trash our planet. How do the plastic bottles and grocery bags end up in the ocean. They certainly don’t throw themselves in to the ocean, it is lack of responsibility and negligent behavior.

It really only takes a couple of seconds to throw something into a recycle bin. Even better would be to reuse the plastic bottles or plastic bags. Plastic materials are not the problem, empathetic people are the problem.