Plastics Get a Unique Digital Watermark Due to MEMS Technology

CSEM worked with matriq AG to develop an innovative marking technology for plastics called DynamicMold. Together, they manufactured a MEMS micro-heating system that applies data matrix codes directly onto plastic components during molding.
 
Plastics are key materials for the economy and can be found just about everywhere in our daily lives, from food packaging to healthcare products and luxury goods. They are lightweight and versatile, and as a result, their demand in the plastic injection market is booming. 
 
In turn, this is increasing pressure on plastic manufacturers to improve their quality control processes in order to ensure the end-to-end traceability and quality of their products to avoid recalls.
 
In the event of a recall, most plastic products have already been stamped with a unique identification code so manufacturers can quickly trace any defective parts. This marking happens post-production—once formed, the plastic material is either laser-engraved or stamped with a barcode. But both these procedures are complex and rely on additional bulky machinery. 
 
Now, thanks to a new technology developed by matriq AG, manufacturers can take advantage of a simple marking method that is directly integrated into their injection molding process.
 
Engineers at the Swiss company matriq have capitalized on the industry 4.0 trend to develop DynamicMold, a new technology that allows manufacturers to mark, number, identify and brand-protect their products. The new technology is installed directly into injection-molding machines, simplifying the marking procedure, cutting time and production costs, and saving precious floor space.
 
DynamicMold inserts are directly mounted into the machinery’s mold cavities, where they then imprint a unique data matrix code, which can be read directly on the surface of plastic parts. The whole marking procedure takes just a few milliseconds and doesn’t delay or interfere with production runs. matriq’s technology is the first digital marking system in the world that operates continuously in-mold and on the production line.
 
The core component of the DynamicMold inserts is a MEMS chip with 2D matrices of heating pixels that can be individually activated. By switching the pixels on or off, the system can dynamically apply specific ID codes onto plastic while being molded. CSEM and matriq jointly develop this aspect of the technology to allow the industrial-scale application of this technology.

“We helped matriq improve the fabrication process of their MEMS chips,” said Jan Schildknecht, senior R&D engineer at CSEM. “The DynamicMold technology itself was developed at the Institute for Microtechnology and Photonics at the OST campus in Buchs, Switzerland.”