Finding the best material for a project or part can be a challenge. Beyond existing knowledge, material supplier catalogs and googling, what’s the best way to reliably source new materials?
One company tackling this problem is Matmatch, which provides a free online searchable materials database. The innovative aspect of Matmatch is that users can find materials options even if they don’t know exactly what they’re looking for. It’s possible to use physical or chemical properties as search parameters, as well as applications, which highlight materials used in certain products and industries. The site also features suppliers of materials, so users can contact them and source materials directly within the platform.
To find out how helpful Matmatch can be for real-world engineers, I spoke with several users of the site.
Finding Alternate Materials for Cost Downs: Garmin International
One of the most familiar challenges driving engineers to hit the books and look for a new material is dollars and cents. Materials can represent a significant portion of the cost of a part directly, in material cost, but also in knock-on effects.
For example, a part may be machined of an aluminum alloy, with this material originally selected because it is relatively inexpensive and easy to machine. However, over time the demand for the part increases, and the machining process—including machining, finishing and quality control—becomes a costly bottleneck. Could the solution be to injection-mold the part of composite resin to increase throughput? That’s a typical example of the type of scenario when one might turn to a database like Matmatch.
Garmin International, the company known for GPS products, recently found success using Matmatch to solve their design challenge. According to Diane McLendon, Advanced Materials Engineer at Garmin, the company began looking for new materials to reduce costs.
According to McLendon, finding a supplier isn’t so difficult; the challenging part is finding the right material. McLendon needed an easier way to search for and compare materials from different families.
“Matmatch was able to go through all the different material families, and I was able to find alternate materials in each,” said McLendon. Having previously relied on suppliers for material options and information, McLendon tried out a few of the different online tools available but recommends Matmatch for other engineers looking for alternate materials to satisfy cost downs.
Researching and Identifying Chemical Content of Materials: Powell Valves
Often with materials research, it’s not that you’re looking to source a new material, but rather that you already know the material and need to know its properties or characteristics. In other words, sometimes you don’t need a catalog, you just need a quick reference.
This happens frequently at Powell Valves, according to Project Engineer Stefan Soder. Powell Valves is a manufacturer of industrial gate, globe, check, butterfly and ball valves.
According to Soder, customers around the world often ask for valves made of unfamiliar or unique materials. As project engineer, these requests wind up on Soder’s desk.
“If I am unsure of the metallurgical content of one of these requests, the first thing I do is to go to Matmatch to determine the chemical content of the metal in question,” he explained. “Once I have identified the characteristics of that metal, I use the database of international material standards on Matmatch to determine what alloys are similar—or even identical—for our foundries to either pour or source if need be, with the ultimate goal of providing our customer an engineered product that meets their technical specifications and process needs.”
Soder’s process highlights why the way Matmatch handles material properties and characteristics as searchable parameters is essential to its usefulness. Without it, Soder and other engineers like him would likely be skimming Wikipedia pages or wading through the archaic MatWeb database.
“After my positive experience with Matmatch.com, it has become a reference source for the Powell engineering team, and I advocate for its use as a reference with my peers and friends in the engineering community,” said Soder.
Supplier Spotlight: Goodfellow
For folks on the other side of the materials market, it’s important to be visible where your potential customers are. Materials suppliers can list their products on Matmatch and reach a growing number of people worldwide using the platform. Plus, the more suppliers and materials that are added to the database, the more useful Matmatch will be for everyone. Shouldn’t your company be listed for the materials you provide?
One company that is already onboard is Goodfellow, a leading supplier of metals, alloys, ceramics, glasses, polymers, compounds and composites. With over 70,000 materials on offer, Goodfellow seeks to supply a diverse range of sectors including universities, government research centers and manufacturers.
Providing so many materials to so many markets presents a marketing challenge for Goodfellow. The company uses a mix of traditional and digital channels to reach customers. According to Goodfellow, trade shows, catalogues and the company website are all excellent ways to serve product information to customers. However, the company also swears by Matmatch for its user-friendly, easy-to-navigate interface.
“Our experience using Matmatch has only been a positive one,” says Joel Aleixo, marketing executive at Goodfellow. “The website is user-friendly and offers potential customers a clearly indexed way of finding our products.”
Whether you’re looking for research, reference or a new material for production, check out Matmatch. You can also sign up for an account to access additional features and stay up-to-date with the latest developments.
Matmatch has sponsored this article. All opinions are mine. –Isaac Maw