Although the Barasso, Italy-based industrial serigrahic screen printing company Seristampa srl showed a range of film insert molding (FIM) examples at Fakuma, an intelligent automotive central console formed the centerpiece of the various items on display, firmly held in foam inside an open sample box.
Sales manager Anne Belle said an automaker, the name of which cannot yet be revealed, had requested a simplified solution for the application, which required 220 components in a labor-heavy and costly production.
Seristampa used FIM to replace those with a single part. The many buttons, screws and other switches in the earlier design could be replaced by FIM not only for decoration, but also for touch controls, many of which remain hidden until activated by touch. This is achieved with use of a capacitive film on the underside of the printed FIM film.
The unspecified OEM initially thought the new solution with its integrated feel, visual and haptic feedback features would be extraordinarily expensive, Belke said.
"We told them this was not the case, as it is in fact much less expensive to produce this complex, highly functionalized part, on account of the elimination of so many components and processes otherwise needed to create the many required effects and functions," she said. "And we achieved all of this with a FIM part that is only 10 [millimeters] thick," she added.