Speciality resins aid product differentiation

GE's Visualfx resins are formulated with special colours and effects inherent in the material.

As one of China's leading manufacturers of MP3 digital music players, Meizu Electronic Technology Company is known for sophisticated designs, excellent sound quality, and overall high standards.

Based in Zhuhai, Guangdong Province, Meizu exports its players to Southeast Asia, the USA, Canada and Europe, where they are sold through distributors.

In the MP3 market, whose consumers tend to be young, style-conscious, and fickle, success depends on continually introducing fresh designs incorporating the latest technologies and features - and, of course, great aesthetics.

When Meizu began conceptualising its latest MP3 series, the X6 line, the company decided to try something new.

Instead of the metallic silver colour used in many of its other players, Meizu wanted to create a dramatic, deep-black front panel to set off the bright yellow and blue of the OLED (organic light-emitting diode) screen and the high-gloss, chromium-plated aluminium body.

The company began creating prototypes using its customary process - painting a moulded polycarbonate/acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (PC/ABS) part.

However, achieving the desired black colour using paint proved frustratingly difficult for Meizu.

Not only did the painted part lack colour depth and vibrancy, but quality issues also arose.

Applying the paint consistently was a constant struggle, leading to uneven quality and a high rejection rate.

Said Zhang Huang, Meizu's General Manager: "With the design of this new product line stalled, Meizu needed a fresh approach that would provide exceptional colour, processing ease, and consistently high quality".

Meizu turned to GE Application Development Specialist Tommy Liu and the GE team for inspiration and expertise.

Liu proposed replacing the painted PC/ABS resin with GE's Visualfx resins, which are formulated with special colours and effects inherent in the material.

Specifically, GE's "black and white" concepts appealed to Meizu as a hot fashion trend, based on GE's extensive aesthetic research and surveys in China.

Visualfx resins not only eliminate the need for secondary painting operations, but also provide unique visual effects that cannot be achieved using traditional processes.

"GE's Visualfx resins help manufacturers succeed by giving them the special hues, textures, and effects that make a product stand out from the pack", said Liu.

"For the Meizu X6 series, we recommended Raven from the Black and White portfolio".

"Raven, which is based on GE's Lexan PC resin, is a true piano-key black offering richness, gloss and the depth of lacquer".

GE worked closely with Meizu over a three-month period to take the X6 colour concept to completion.

Once the manufacturer had decided on the Raven resin effect, experts at GE's Customer Innovation Centre in Shanghai began the process of fine-tuning the exact level of gloss, texture, and colour intensity to meet Meizu's requirements.

Raven Visualfx resin begins with a transparent base with just enough added pigment to achieve opacity.

The Customer Innovation Centre team provided colour-matching services using GE's state-of-the-art equipment, and samples of the Raven material for prototyping.

Some of the centre's special capabilities include: special lighting designed to allow accurate evaluation of colour chips as they would look outdoors, under fluorescent bulbs, or with incandescent illumination; a production facility that can extrude custom colour pellets for injection moulding machines; and technical consultants including a product development specialist, a colour technologist, a manufacturing co-ordinator, an application development engineer, and several colour matchers.

The high-gloss panel for the X6 MP3 player is moulded by VS Industry Company of Zhuhai, an integrated manufacturer engaged in mould design and fabrication that specialises in plastic moulded products and assembly of electronic products.

The company injection moulds the Meizu components.

One of the benefits of using GE's Visualfx resin was that no retooling was required for this application, even with a change from PC/ABS to Lexan PC resin.

Another advantage is increased flow for faster cycle times.

Finally, the GE resin enabled the use of thinner walls for the panel design, allowing Meizu to create a smaller player.

Wing Fu, a GE Processing Development Engineer, provided expertise to VS Industry, including a moulding trial, mould tool review, and technical support.

GE's technology, expertise, and local design facilities helped Meizu produce a new MP3 player that stands out from the competition.

"The deep, glossy black colour of our X6 player makes it exceptionally beautiful and distinctive in a market where there are plenty of good-looking designs", said Huang.

"The use of GE's Lexan PC resin, which sets a high standard of excellence for the industry, helped to ensure a high-quality part".

Further, the resin's high flow rate, adaptability to the existing mould, and elimination of secondary operations saved cycle time and kept system costs down.

"Like other manufacturers in this fast-paced market, we must get our new products to the consumer quickly and cost-effectively to stay competitive", said Huang.

"GE helped to accelerate this process".

Based on the success experienced with GE's Raven Visualfx resin, in July 2005, Meizu launched three new versions of the X6 player using a different GE Visualfx resin concept - the "China Palette" effects.

These include two Optillusion effects and one Vivid effect.

Based on Meizu's positive experience working with GE, the company recognises the value of GE as a long term supplier.

And because of the success with Visualfx resins, Meizu has selected them for its next-generation (X3) MP3 players.

"We believe that GE's commitment to innovation and local presence in China will bring Meizu another great success", said Liu.

Back to top