PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT Molecular Metallurgy, Inc. (MMI), provides coating services and product development for a wide variety of applications. As we offer most of the standard hard coatings – TiN, TiAlN, TiCN – why are we unique? We make product! Unlike most of our competition, we apply our technology in concert with the design of the product. We understand the need for consistent quality. We understand the need to meet production demands. We understand what is entailed in setting and meeting material specifications. It might be that a small design change can dramatically decrease the coating cost or eliminate a step in the manufacturing process.

We’re flexible! The standard coatings that are offered by MMI and most coating companies are hard – and very stiff. They were designed for metal cutting applications, to be deposited on stiff substrates – tool steel and cobalt-cemented tungsten carbide. We coat metals that aren’t so stiff – carbon steel, stainless steel, alloy steel, titanium alloys – metals that flex. If you put a thin layer of a very stiff material on a not-so-stiff material and bend it, the very stiff material will tend to crack and flake off. Our coatings are designed to handle the differences in the material stiffness to avoid cracking and flaking.

We’re really sharp! Most traditional PVD processes will dull sharp edges. This is not a problem for metal cutting tools – the edges will break off if they’re too sharp. But many cutting instruments have to be very, very sharp. Our experience in designing scalpel blade technology uses our “family experience” model for new products.

We believe in hard work with great attitude! We don’t just make product; we make product for the biomedical market. We must meet FDA regulations for medical device manufacturing using solid surface engineering. Our research team works with our customers to create the best, most consistent product possible at the lower cost. Each product development follows standard ISO 9000 procedures: We’re beautiful! No one really cares what a metal cutting too looks like, but try to sell a Magnum Research Desert Eagle with an ugly coating on it. So, our coatings not only provide extreme hardness and wear resistance – but ours look really beautiful as well.

Design and development planning. Each project begins with a design and development plan, outlining the work to be done and assigning the responsibility for the implementation of each step. Design input. The first step of the plan is to understand your application. We ask questions, lots of questions. Design output. The answers to the questions we ask allow our technical staff to solve your problem. We address all of the issues, including the coating(s) best suited for you application, pre- and post- deposition processing, effect of the coating process on substrate strength and hardness, quality assurance, and part handling in production. These all become part of the design output. Design review. The design is then presented to a review committee composed of technical personnel not involved in the design, and representatives of both manufacturing and quality assurance. Design verification. Working with our customers, the design is verified by experimentation, testing, and re-designs until all parties are agreed that the problem has been solved. Design validation. The next step is to validate the design in production. We run enough production through our system to ensure that the product will always meet the highest quality standards. Design transfer. Once the design has been validated, the technical group finalizes production documents (work instructions, specifications, et al.) and transfers the work over to the production staff.