In today’s world, finding a reliable compression film supplier is becoming more challenging than ever.

While a struggling supply chain continues to plague manufacturers across multiple industries, it’s not the only issue causing frustration and delays. Your partners and consumers demand more out of their products, which means the components used to make them need to deliver specific and reliable performance designed for the application. Working with a compression film supplier that can take your shrink materials to the next level is critical for success.

Depending on your application, an off-the-shelf shrink tape or shrink tube solution might meet your needs. But can you take that performance further? Would a shrink solution designed for extremely high temperatures help? Would a customized solution that delivers higher compression on a tailored curve result in a more consistent surface finish? These are important considerations for improving not only your end product but also streamlining your production efforts overall.

Here, we’ll quickly explore a few key details that you should look for when researching a compression film supplier to understand if they’re the right partner for your needs.

What Makes for a Great Compression Film Supplier

Multiple Materials

Your compression film supplier should be a partner that you work with to make your overall operations better, and a key to that is providing a variety of product and material types to enhance your production. An off-the-shelf product won’t be a catch-all for every product in your portfolio or every challenge you come across. Work with a compression film supplier that can meet your needs with the right product at the right time.

Designed for Heat

Many compression films actually begin to relax or experience other negative effects as curing temperatures rise. This can result in reduced part or surface finish quality and other defects. Working with a compression film that increases compression as temperatures increase eliminates the risk of the film loosening right when resins begin to drop in viscosity. The result is a more consistent surface finish that’s free from voids and debris as well as a better performing product. Additionally, depending on the application, the right film — such as a shrink tape — can be left on the part rather than having to scrape it off post-cure.

Customization Capability

This one is extremely important. Your part and process are unique, and that means you need a unique solution to maximize positive outcomes. While many shrink tapes and shrink tubes can produce consistent results across a variety of applications, you may be able to make significant improvements by working with a compression film supplier that can customize their material options. Material thickness, length, compression force, max curing temperature, and more can all be modified to ensure you get the results you’re looking for.

Supports Automation

As a result of all of the supply chain and labor issues over the past couple of years, many manufacturers are looking for ways to automate their production efforts — whether through the use of robots, cobots, or simply more efficient production processes. Shrink tapes and shrink tubing play an important role in this. For example, working with a compression film supplier that can provide shrink tape on a laterally wound core enables you to use winding equipment to wrap a part. This is faster than wrapping by hand and produces more consistent results.

Multiple Industries

Last but not least, choose a compression film supplier that has experience in multiple industries. Their experience across different markets means they’ll have experience with the countless ways that shrink tapes and shrink tubing are used on parts as well as different companies’ production processes. The result is a more well rounded understanding of how shrink materials can be best applied and used to achieve specific goals, which benefits you in the long run. They may be able to recommend a better material for your goals and be able to advise you on ways to maximize its performance based on how you’ll be using it in your production environment.

Experience the Dunstone Difference

For more than 60 years, Dunstone has been supporting organizations worldwide with their shrink tape and shrink tubing needs. From automotive and aerospace to oil & gas, sporting goods, and defense, our experience knows no bounds. Every day, our team is working with production leaders and teams for some of the largest brands to solve their compression film challenges.

We offer an extensive portfolio of Hi-Shrink Tape and Hi-Shrink Tubing products, all of which are customizable according to your goals and needs. As your compression film supplier, we’ll seek to understand your goals up front and then recommend the most ideal product to help you reach them. We also offer complimentary samples of our readily available shrink products. Simply let us know what you’re looking to achieve, and we’ll get a sample out to you right away to try in your production environment.

Connect with us now to request a sample or discuss your application.