Several years ago, a flexible duct manufacturer demanded huge compensation to his Aluminum foil PET film supplier. Because there is serious quality problem aluminum foil & PET film was separated from this batch of products. So that this material was unavailable and wasteful, which lead to delay his production schedule and affect sales plan.
How tragic case it is. I think you don’t would like to cooperate with this unreliable supplier. Then how shall we search for aluminum foil film factory? Believe you have your idea and experience about that. In international trade, five searching ways for your review:
B2B: Alibaba, Amazon,EC21 etc.
Google: search by product name
Exhibition: concern for the industry information and the related fair.
Publish the purchase message on the professional Forums and websites.
Social network: linkedin,facebook,etc.
After listing these suppliers, how to identify who are reliable ones.
Many people thought the major factory is first choice, due to the large-scale, full-range product and complete testing means. Well, not exactly. In many countries, the reliable suppliers are always the middle and small-sized enterprises. In order to introduce their products for you, they research the better product, control the higher quality, provide more considerate service, wish to be your good partner. So don’t mind the plant size, just evaluate and conclude from the following aspects:
- Quality: usually, the foil film factory made some sample with regular size in stock in advance for you to test. Therefore, you could request the samples you need with candidate suppliers. After receiving it, confirming the appearance (wrinkles, joints, scratches) by visual inspection, and doing physical testing, like tensile strength. Finally, comparing these samples from different factories.
- Price: while you are waiting for sample, requiring offer sheet from suppliers. Because foil film is made of aluminum foil and PET film. The offer sheet might be changed depending on aluminum ingots and petroleum. But don’t worry about the price different between the inquiry and the order. As you know, the offer is valid for about 10 days or more.
- Lead time: it always relates to your production planning and determines whether you can deliver to your customers on time.
- Certificate: a reflection of quality, and indicates that the foil film produced by this plant meets the laws and regulations of the customer’s local market as well as import requirements.
- Service: flexible cooperation & specialized solution & responsible attitude are important added-value. If you find a supplier like this, don’t hesitate, it’s him.
Learned what is reliable supplier, do you know where they are? Mainland China, Middle East, India, Turkey and other developing countries where labor costs are relatively low. Besides, Parts of factories are located in Europe and America. Setting up an aluminum foil factory is not easy and needs some prerequisite, obtaining production licenses comply with local laws and regulations, modern workshop & warehouses & equipment, standard operating procedures, skilled operator, and passing acceptance of fire protection and environmental protection. Based on these conditions, foil film is allowed to be made. As mentioned before, it consists of aluminum foil and PET film by dry compound method. The same width of Aluminum foil roll and PET film roll are put into lamination device, composited by glue, and to be foil film. Then it is delivered to drying room. Seventy-two hours later, the roll is slitting into strips as requirement on cutting machine, in the meantime, the cutting is kept flat, surface is smooth without scratch, joint, wrinkle.
The quality of foil film has influence on the reputation of your product & brand among customers. Next, we will analyze it from several aspects.
1）Appearance:
Firstly, alu foil and PET film couldn’t separate, which impacts the service life of flexible duct. There are several influencing factors, such as laminating process, glue, drying time, etc. The case mentioned before show you should pay attention on this issue, when you receive the product.
Second, the cutting of aluminum PET strip should be flat and surface is smooth without scratch, joint, wrinkle. The duct forming and quality is good or not is decided by these issues.
2）Physical property:
Surface tension(polyester side) reaches 38 dyne.
Flame spread: ＜25. it is used to indicate the flame retardant grade. According to UL testing standards, it can be divided into the three classes as below. If the product reaches class A standard, means difficult to burn and safety.
| Class | Flame Spread Index |
| A | 0-25 |
| B | 26-75 |
| C | 76-200 |
Except for product quality itself, it is necessary to know the certificate about this supplier. If the material could be imported or not to the local is essential for you. The supplier with Rohs,Reach,UL,CE or ISO9000 could be your considerable partner.
Above all, stable quality, reasonable price, flexible delivery time and comprehensive service are the characteristics of a reliable foil film supplier. It not only ensures the supply of product,but also provides you with the latest trends of the local market, even the international market.
