The K-Box process - an innovative concept in enclosure technology

25 October 2000 Manufacturing / Production Technology, Hardware & Services

A few years ago the idea of having a custom made plastic enclosure for your electronics and keeping the costs for prototyping and limited production runs below R10 000 seemed ludicrous. However, with the introduction of the PMP process, developed and perfected by TTK Kunststoff of Germany, this is no longer a fantasy.

K-Box Technology SA, the South African licence holder for the process, is offering this innovative method of enclosure manufacture to the local market. As most designers will know, gaining a 'competitive edge' could be something as small as the 'look and feel' of the packaging and having the ability to really make one's product stand out in the crowd can be a huge plus point. The fact that K-Box manages to manufacture these enclosures without the need for tooling or moulds and that the designs can be changed at any point during the life of the product makes a telling point against investing thousands of rands in injection moulding processes.

The PMP process involves the fabrication of enclosures using milled flat panels that are then bent and assembled to the same strict tolerances required of injection-moulded products. Using the specially designed software and NC milling machines K-Box is able to design and manufacture a prototype housing in as little as one week or, if the need requires, even overnight.

That is one of the major advantages of the process. With the life expectancy of most electronics now being measured in months rather than years, the ability to repackage electronics if and when needed has become critical. Be it because of technology updates or styling, K-Box is in the position to design a box around one's electronics that can be modified at will.

K-Box has housed electronics in a variety of applications including: access control, time and attendance, medical, industrial control, forecourt POS, thin clients, promotional and marketing, and many others

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