Capabilities/Custom Silicone Compounds

Material Development

For device engineers choosing, or questioning, the elastomer inside a critical-to-function part.

The material is the one decision on a molded part you cannot change later without requalifying it. So we get it right before the part is validated: the best established grade when one fits, and a compound built to your part's physical properties when none does.

ISO 13485:2016 · BSI FM 590598/ FDA-Registered/ ISO Class 8 Cleanroom Environment Molding/ Made in the USA/ 24/7 Operations
The Problem

Too often, the part gets designed
around the material.

An off-the-shelf grade comes close. It is not quite right on hardness, rebound, sealing force, tear strength, or conductivity, so the geometry quietly absorbs the difference.

First, the compromise

The geometry absorbs the gap

A wall thickens. A tolerance loosens. A feature gets simplified. Nobody calls it a material problem, because on the drawing it does not look like one.

Then, the surprise

Testing finds it

A seal that looked fine on paper takes a set. A valve opens at the wrong pressure. A diaphragm that needed to flex drifts instead.

Finally, the cost

The compromise ships

By then the material is locked into the validation plan, and changing it means requalifying the part. On a program heading toward submission, nobody has time for that.

Why It Keeps Happening

Most molders sell the material
they already buy.

A molder tied to one material supplier recommends that supplier. A molder that only molds what is on the print ends the conversation at “that is what the grade does.” Either way, when the material falls short, your team is left to chase a new grade, a new sample run, and a new validation cycle alone.

The usual way

Start with what is in stock. Design around it.

  • The recommendation follows a supply agreement
  • The material is chosen from a data sheet, not proven in a mold
  • Shortfalls get absorbed by the geometry and discovered in testing
  • A material change after validation means requalifying the part
How we do it

Start with what the part has to do. Work backward to the material.

  • Selection across every major liquid silicone supplier, with the reasoning attached
  • A custom compound only when no established grade holds the requirement
  • Every candidate proven in a real mold under real process conditions
  • The material locked before validation, so it never has to change after

A molder locked to one supplier recommends that supplier. A molder that works across all of them, and compounds to spec, recommends the part.

Machine Mold Material Process

Every quality part requires four things: a machine, a mold, a material, and a process. Material comes first in practice, because the other three are built around it. And because we develop the compound alongside the mold and the process, it is designed to run in production, not just to pass a data sheet.

Selection First

Do you need a
custom compound?

Your situation

Most programs do not need a custom compound.

What we do

We will tell you when yours does.

Knowing when not to develop a compound is as much a part of the service as developing one.

An engineer at a vision metrology station
Materials

What we select, develop,
and mold.

Supplier-agnostic and spec-driven. Your requirement picks the material, not our supply agreement.

MaterialWhen it is chosen
Liquid silicone rubber (LSR) Biocompatible, thermally stable, precise. The default for high-volume medical molding.
HCR gum silicone Properties, sizes, and durometers outside LSR's window.
Fluorosilicone Silicone performance plus resistance to fuels, oils, solvents, and aggressive chemistry.
Conductive silicone Electrical function for shielding, contact, grounding, and sensing.
Organic and synthetic rubber When the application calls for a non-silicone elastomer.
Custom formulations When no catalog material meets the requirement.
See all molding processes
How a Development Program Works

Four steps, one partner.

Define the
Requirement

1

We review the part, the device, and the environment it lives in: what it seals, what it touches, how it flexes, how it is sterilized, and how long it has to hold.

What It Means
Your requirement picks the material.

Select
or Develop

2

If an established grade fits, we recommend it and tell you why. If it does not, we develop a compound that targets the properties you need.

What It Means
A custom compound only when no established grade holds.

Validate It
in the Press

3

The material is validated in a real mold under real process conditions, so the results reflect production, not a lab slab.

What It Means
Validated in the press, not discovered in testing.

Lock
It In

4

Once it performs, the material is documented and controlled under our ISO 13485:2016 quality system with full traceability, so the part you validate is the part you keep receiving for the life of the device.

What It Means
The material never has to change after validation.
Why It Matters

Get the material right once,
and it stays right.

One partner from compound to component

Material, mold, and process are developed together instead of handed across three companies and three quality systems.

Fewer late surprises

Material performance is proven in the press before validation, not discovered during it.

A material that belongs to your program

A compound developed for your part is documented, controlled, and traceable lot to lot, built to stay consistent from first article to full commercial scale.

No mid-program material change

The expensive version of this problem is a material swap after submission. Choosing on evidence at the start is how you avoid requalifying later.

Proof

Where a material's real
behavior shows up.

Not on the data sheet. In the lot, under test, before it ships.

From prototype to millions a year

The same material, controlled across the whole curve.

Functional lot release

Inflation, leak, rebound, and response testing, matched to what the part must do.

Full material and product traceability

On every lot, from raw material to shipped part.

ISO 13485:2016

Certificate scope: “Custom Critical-To-Function Engineered Components.”

Since 1980

Molding elastomers.

24/7 operations

When programs require it.

FAQ

Questions about material selection.

Do I need a custom compound?
Usually not. Most programs are well served by an established medical-grade material, and we will tell you when that is the case. Custom development makes sense when no available grade meets your performance requirements.
Can you mold a material I have already specified?
Yes. If your team has already selected a material, we mold it. If we see a risk in that choice, we raise it early, while it is still easy to change.
Which liquid silicone suppliers do you work with?
All of the major LSR manufacturers, so material selection is driven by your part's requirements rather than by a supply agreement.
What materials do you work with besides silicone?
In addition to LSR and HCR gum silicone, we mold fluorosilicones, conductive grades, and a range of organic and synthetic rubber compounds.
Is material development a separate engagement?
No. It is part of how we launch a program. Material selection or development is built into the same process that takes your part from the print through production.
Our part is already validated but drifting. Can you help?
Often, yes. Rebound loss, compression set, and response drift frequently trace back to the material or its cure. Send the print and the failure data, and we will tell you honestly whether a material change, a process change, or neither is the answer.
Next Step

Have a part the standard grades
cannot handle?

Tell us what it has to do. Our engineers will find the material that gets it there, or build it. And if an established grade will do the job, we will tell you that too.

Starting a new program?

From clinical builds to commercial scale, engage our engineers at the print.

Start Your Program

Transferring a program or mold?

Revalidation is a given. We plan it around your inventory bank, so your line keeps running while we qualify.

Transfer Your Program
Typography preview
Preview only. Your pick follows you across the design pages.