Purging Compounds for Consumer Products

Consumer goods are one of the most competitive and cost-conscious markets for plastics manufacturers. You make an endless variety of products using every imaginable process, resin, and color. There’s no order you can’t handle, and your team will work around the clock to get the job done right. But with stiff competition, your success depends on fast and predictable color and material changeovers. You cannot afford any contamination issues or you will miss your deadlines. You need to keep costs down, but cutting corners leads to costly scrap. We know what you’re dealing with. Asaclean® has been helping consumer goods processors reduce scrap and downtime for over 25 years.

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Consumer Goods

You are in one of the most competitive markets and your flexibility, cost-effectiveness, and processing capabilities mean the difference between success and failure.

Plastic food storage containers coming off an assembly line

The products you make come in all shapes and sizes and consumers depend on their performance and durability daily. Whether your end-products are furniture, houseware, toys, sporting goods, footwear, pet supplies, or anything in-between, you’re trying to keep your scrap-rates incredibly low while producing a staggering volume of parts. Frequent changeovers working with a variety of colors and resins are recipes for contamination. Hot runner color changes are particularly challenging and valve gates have their own share of challenges. Supply-chain issues and JIT-delivery requirements ramp up the pressure even more.

How can you maximize efficiencies while dramatically cutting costs?

60%

On average, Asaclean®’s Consumer Goods customers save 60% on reduced scrap & downtime.

We know you must be incredibly price-conscious, but if you cut corners to keep costs down, you might end up with defects and customer complaints that can jeopardize your contracts moving forward.

This puts you in a very difficult spot. Fortunately, we understand what you’re dealing with.

Asaclean® Purging Compounds have been the top choice of the consumer goods market for more than twenty-five years. Here’s why.

We’re firm believers – Asaclean® really works as advertised! Every processor should give it a try.”
Glen, Process Engineer, Consumer Goods, OH


Picture of plastic storage containers

Why Asaclean® Purging Compounds are the Best Choice for Consumer Goods

Faster Changeovers, Easy Carbon Removal, Competitive Pricing, & Same Day Shipping

 

1. Superior Performance for Consumer Goods

Asaclean® offers an unrivaled product lineup designed with the consumer goods market’s challenges in mind.

For Consumer Goods, Asaclean® Purging Compounds:

  • Excel in hot runner color changes and cleaning
  • Clean the screw & barrel thoroughly
  • Quickly clean out valve gates and nozzle tips
  • Easily assist in difficult material changes
  • Are incredibly easy-to-use
  • Dramatically reduce scrap and defect rates
  • Have low-residue formulas for clear applications
  • Remove carbon contamination & black specks
  • Help facilitate easier screw pulls
  • Seal your machine during shutdowns to promote easier start-ups
  • Are in-stock for same-day shipping

Asaclean® offers Purging Compounds engineered for your specific resins, processing temperatures, and applications. We have solutions to all your processing needs.

The U Grade purging compound not only keeps the tips and screws clean but even eliminates the need to pull the screw for anything but regular preventative maintenance. This has been a major cost savings for us. I estimate that for this product line, U Grade reduced restart time by 60 percent, and eliminated unscheduled screw pulls (possibly 12 per year). The U Grade has raised the bar for all purging compounds."
Mike N. , Process Technician, Consumer Goods, North Carolina

With the world-class R&D team of Asahi Kasei in Japan, Asaclean® offers incredible cleaning performance coupled with expert technical & product support.

For most molders, we usually recommend Asaclean®’s legacy line of Mechanical Purging Compounds. With that said, every situation is different.

High-cavitation hot runners are better suited with a Purging Concentrate like Asaclean® PLUS Grade because PLUS supercharges your own processing resins and is easily displaced. This is a huge innovation in purging that’s made an immediate impact since PLUS was launched in June 2021.

PLUS was pretty shocking to me because, one, it was just so easy …and two, it cleans incredibly well.”
Ray D., Plant Manager, Consumer Goods, Southeast

Sunglasses displayed in backlit shelf

There is a bonus with Asaclean®. When you reduce scrap-rates and achieve faster changeovers, your customers will receive their orders in less time.

This is a win-win.

Changing Colors, Rising Costs
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Changing Colors, Rising Costs

How To Produce Thermoplastic Holding Scrap With The Right Purging Agent

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2. Asaclean® Purging Compounds Solve Color/Carbon Contamination & Layering

While color and material changeovers are a necessary part of the job, dealing with color and carbon contamination is not.

Contamination is often a self-inflicted wound that occurs when a team runs from color to color or material to material without Asaclean®.

We’ve all been there.

You’re on a tight deadline to get an overwhelming number of parts out the door.

You’re trying to save money and time.

You think you’re doing the right thing.

You switch to the next production resin and figure that it costs less per lb than your purge, and will get you to good parts eventually, so what’s the harm?

Colorful Crocs in a row

There are a few problems here:

Virgin and regrind are not designed to clean out your machine.

Resin cannot effectively remove previous resins or color deposits from the previous run. Purging compounds are formulated with detergency and cleaning power to both displace the previous resin/colors and clean the machine itself.

Although you will eventually see good parts using regrind or virgin, the previous resin is layering on your screw and barrel setting you up for serious contamination issues.

Before Asaclean®, we’d use around $10,000 worth of ABS to purge each month. With Asaclean®, we saved that resin and our purge cost per month is now to $4,000. The savings are clear and we all see how the usage of Asaclean® is justified!”
Francisco M. , Buyer, Custom Molder, Mexico
Old colors will start showing up in your future parts—destroying your efficiency and any savings you might have achieved with your shortcut

Layering is a timebomb. Those layers will break off and end up contaminating other parts. Many customers are baffled by where their color streaks or specks are coming from. Most of the time, layering is the cause. Layers are most common on the flights, on the barrel wall, and in the nozzle area. Once layers form, contamination becomes more difficult to clean.

Many maintenance teams rely on screw pulls and complete teardowns to solve the issue.

If you’re in the consumer goods market, you cannot afford extended downtime.

Layering diagram


Price-per-pound is not as important as price-per-purge

If you think you’re saving your company money by using cheap alternatives to Asaclean®, think again. If pricing seems too good to be true, it probably is. Your performance will suffer. Using these will lead to slower changeovers and increased scrap cutting into your already tight margins and will seriously jeopardize delivery times.

Production resins/regrind are not a cheaper option than a quality purging compound, and they do not clean. We often see processors using 4-5x the amount of virgin resin, 5-8x the changeover time, and inevitable teardowns to address contamination issues.

These are all easily avoided with Asaclean®.

We run about twenty different colors and we don't have to pull our screws. We don't have to do anything additional, other than running the Asaclean® between colors. We never have contamination issues or streaking.”
Rodney Davenport , Vice President, CH3 Solutions, Georgia
67%

Asaclean® customers save an average of 67% when dealing with Color Contamination.

Fortunately, there is good news.

If you find yourself struggling with color or carbon contamination, we offer Asaclean® Grades specifically formulated to battle heavy contamination.

Grades like EX are incredibly effective at quickly removing contamination and getting you back into good parts in no time.

This is a huge help for your Maintenance team, and it can avoid costly downtime.

3. Competitive Pricing & Dramatic Cost Savings

Consumer goods prospects usually have three things in mind when they call us:

Faster color changeovers, reducing scrap rates, and pricing.

Four colorful kayaks laying on the ground

If you’re reading this, pricing is probably your one of your top concerns as well.

Fortunately for you, Asaclean® offers affordable, high-performance options specific to the needs of consumer goods manufacturers. If pricing is your top concern, we have solutions for you.

But maybe you think your plant can’t afford Asaclean®. We frequently hear from Process Engineers & Buyers who don’t think they can afford purging compounds. Some think regrind and virgin resin are better options. There’s a good chance you can’t afford not to use Asaclean®. Let’s clear up a common misconception about purging.

Asaclean®’s consumer goods grades are affordable and will help your plant increase your profit margins substantially. With Asaclean®, your company will hit your targets.

4. Unrivaled Technical & Product Support

We are not just an MRO supplier. We consider ourselves an extension of your team. Our sole focus is helping your team make better parts for less money. We take pride in helping consumer goods processors save.

From a buying standpoint, one thing that really sticks out about AKAC is that they truly are solutions providers. They help us solve the problem. They have provided technical support, training, and product support followed.”
Ray R. , Supply Chain Manager, Washington

Asaclean®’s consumer goods grades come with a dedicated Purging Expert with processing experience. When you start working with Asaclean®, your Expert will:

  • Work with you to identify inefficiencies
  • Offer a free sample of Asaclean® that makes sense for your needs
  • Conduct a Cost Savings Analysis to estimate your savings with Asaclean®
  • Create a custom Asaclean® Purge Program
  • Visit your plant to meet your team & train your shifts to maximize savings
  • Be available both in-person or virtually for any questions or troubleshooting

These value-adds are all complimentary and are considered part of Asaclean®’s services.

Implementing an Asaclean® Purge Program will have an immediate impact on your cost savings.

How to Implement a Purge Program
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How to Implement a Purge Program
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We are available for complimentary on-site visits on short notice, and are here for you around the clock. If you’re dealing with something urgent, we also offer free virtual support via Skype, Teams, or the service of your choice.

If you have new hires, we want to make sure they receive the same level of training that the rest of your team benefits from during in-person visits. Let us know and we will train them immediately so you continue to see the same high level of Asaclean® performance.

5. Robust Supply-Chain & JIT-Delivery

Plastics manufacturers are acutely aware of the headaches associated with supply-chain issues. Resin and other supply shortages can completely sabotage your ability to succeed.

If you choose Asaclean®, you won’t have to worry about supply chain issues.

All our grades are in stock at multiple, strategically placed warehouses throughout North America. We offer JIT and same day shipment. We are flexible and sensitive to your needs.

As part of Asahi Kasei, we have a robust network of production facilities and warehouses and incredibly consistent product quality. We work closely with APNA and other sister companies in the consumer goods space to continuously improve how we can serve your market. If you choose Asaclean®, you are choosing a reliable purging partner invested in your success.

Ready to start improving your efficiency and increasing your profitability?

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