David Savastano, Editor11.19.08
The market for printed electronics presents an incredible array of opportunities for innovative technologies. With new applications coming to fruition, manufacturers require suppliers that can offer first-class products and service.
For Creative Materials, Inc., a Tyngsboro, MA-based specialist in conductive inks, coatings and adhesives, the need for service and R&D expertise is an ideal fit.
“What differentiates us can be summed up in one word – service,” said Stuart Ganslaw, vice president of business development for Creative Materials. “We offer local sales representation, accessible technical support team and we travel out to see our customers. We are very flexible in manufacturing, producing batches ranging from 200 grams to millions of grams. We provide more online data than most of our competitors.”
Creative Materials has plenty of experience in the market, having been founded with an eye toward customizing products 21 years ago by Silvio Morano, its president and CEO.
“Silvio saw the opportunity for custom development of polymer, thick films rather than to sell off a list,” Mr. Ganslaw said. “The market was in its infancy. They started it from nothing, working out of a facility the size of a garage.
“We were small and well known in our industry, but only had a small network of sales representatives,” Mr. Ganslaw said. “I saw something I liked, and I bought in to the company. We have a consultative selling approach. We look for customers who have a problem and customize a product that meets their needs, whether it is functional inks, coatings or adhesives.”
Creative Materials excels in R&D expertise. “We have extensive polymer and filler technology,” Mr. Ganslaw said. “We are involved in new technologies, including nanomaterials and new fillers. We’re blending our old technology with new technology. We have a willingness to customize, not only for performance point of view but also to design a product so that it processes properly on our customers’ equipment. We are unique in offering the ability to do prototyping. We will go out and get prints made for customers, as we have relationships with printers all over the country.”
Creative Materials develops and markets highly conductive adhesives and inks that can be applied to a variety of substrates with exceptional print definition. The company also produces a wide range of thermally conductive adhesives, encapsulants, potting compounds and dielectric coatings. Its formulation expertise encompasses acrylic, polyimide, silicone, epoxy, urethane and proprietary polymer chemistries.
As a result of its R&D efforts, Creative Materials recently launched a series of silver conductive inks and adhesives specifically for the thin film photovoltaic industry. These products are designed to offer high conductivity and low contact resistance along with excellent adhesion to a variety of transparent conductive oxides (TCO). The products operate over a wide temperature range, offer flexibility and provide excellent environmental aging. This series of inks and adhesives is designed to operate in high humidity environments and offer excellent thermal cycling stability. One and two component curing epoxy systems are offered.
The conductive inks are designed for use in grid lines and bus bars printed onto the TCOs in thin film solar cells. These inks can be custom formulated to be printed by screen, rotogravure or flexographic processes.
Today, Mr. Ganslaw said that Creative Materials has opportunities in so many different markets.
“We’re in so many different end use applications, literally hundreds of them,” he said. “There are strong markets, such as electronics, medical sensors and photovoltaics, as well as areas such as touch screens and panels. We’re working with many of the OEMs who are developing these products. We’ve expanded our sales force in North America and Asia, and are looking to expand into Europe, and now we’re getting 20 to 30 good solid projects each month.”
“What differentiates us can be summed up in one word – service,” said Stuart Ganslaw, vice president of business development for Creative Materials. “We offer local sales representation, accessible technical support team and we travel out to see our customers. We are very flexible in manufacturing, producing batches ranging from 200 grams to millions of grams. We provide more online data than most of our competitors.”
Creative Materials has plenty of experience in the market, having been founded with an eye toward customizing products 21 years ago by Silvio Morano, its president and CEO.
“Silvio saw the opportunity for custom development of polymer, thick films rather than to sell off a list,” Mr. Ganslaw said. “The market was in its infancy. They started it from nothing, working out of a facility the size of a garage.
“We were small and well known in our industry, but only had a small network of sales representatives,” Mr. Ganslaw said. “I saw something I liked, and I bought in to the company. We have a consultative selling approach. We look for customers who have a problem and customize a product that meets their needs, whether it is functional inks, coatings or adhesives.”
Creative Materials excels in R&D expertise. “We have extensive polymer and filler technology,” Mr. Ganslaw said. “We are involved in new technologies, including nanomaterials and new fillers. We’re blending our old technology with new technology. We have a willingness to customize, not only for performance point of view but also to design a product so that it processes properly on our customers’ equipment. We are unique in offering the ability to do prototyping. We will go out and get prints made for customers, as we have relationships with printers all over the country.”
Creative Materials develops and markets highly conductive adhesives and inks that can be applied to a variety of substrates with exceptional print definition. The company also produces a wide range of thermally conductive adhesives, encapsulants, potting compounds and dielectric coatings. Its formulation expertise encompasses acrylic, polyimide, silicone, epoxy, urethane and proprietary polymer chemistries.
As a result of its R&D efforts, Creative Materials recently launched a series of silver conductive inks and adhesives specifically for the thin film photovoltaic industry. These products are designed to offer high conductivity and low contact resistance along with excellent adhesion to a variety of transparent conductive oxides (TCO). The products operate over a wide temperature range, offer flexibility and provide excellent environmental aging. This series of inks and adhesives is designed to operate in high humidity environments and offer excellent thermal cycling stability. One and two component curing epoxy systems are offered.
The conductive inks are designed for use in grid lines and bus bars printed onto the TCOs in thin film solar cells. These inks can be custom formulated to be printed by screen, rotogravure or flexographic processes.
Today, Mr. Ganslaw said that Creative Materials has opportunities in so many different markets.
“We’re in so many different end use applications, literally hundreds of them,” he said. “There are strong markets, such as electronics, medical sensors and photovoltaics, as well as areas such as touch screens and panels. We’re working with many of the OEMs who are developing these products. We’ve expanded our sales force in North America and Asia, and are looking to expand into Europe, and now we’re getting 20 to 30 good solid projects each month.”