Product

The resulting piston is designed for food-dosing machines that use volumetric measurement. This type of machine is used in large food manufacturing plants, including dairy packaging plants, which face particularly stringent requirements. Amid the rapidly-emerging Factory of the Future, the ability to equip wear parts like pistons with devices that enable predictive maintenance is more than relevant. EFJM overcame a significant technical hurdle: how to integrate an electronic device during the rubber vulcanization process. It will now be possible to integrate directly into the piston all of the equipment ID and traceability data to head off counterfeiting. The piston will also generate monitoring data so that replacement can be planned according to key characteristics.

L'histoire du produit

EJFM invented a process to adhere rubber to PTFE. The innovation positioned the company as a hyper-specialist in dynamic sealing solutions. The pistons used in food dosing machines are one of the flagship applications for the technology. EFJM’s many innovations in this field generate substantial revenue for the company. However, the oldest products in the company’s lineup are beginning to face competition now that some of the underlying patents have come into the public domain. To navigate this challenging environment, several years ago, EFJM began exploring how they could bring innovation into the product and what resources that would take. The idea of integrating RFID was the result of this process. RFID tags were totally outside of the scope of EFJM’s know-how. As a member of cluster Elastopole, the company attended an innovation session facilitated by ANRT, where it identified Leti’s potential to help. EFJM then turned to Leti to design a miniaturized electronic assembly that would overcome the main challenges that had been identified. The partnership with Leti led EFJM to work with Minalogic to review the planned roadmap and create an economically-viable framework for the development.