For engineers, product designers, researchers and buyers who have tested every commercial material they could find and still don’t have one that meets the spec.
Why might you need a “custom” polymer? Because you’ve done the homework and compared the data sheets. You’ve requested samples. You’ve run the tests and analyzed the results. A few candidate materials came close. But, unfortunately, none of them quite performed as your application requires.
That’s the point where custom polymers stop being an option worth considering as the only realistic path forward. At National Polymer, custom project work is the only work we do. We develop and manufacture custom polymers, coatings and adhesives for applications where nothing on the market will do the job, and we carry each material from the first lab batch through full-scale production.
Why Off-the-Shelf Polymers Fall Short
Commercial polymers are designed and mass produced for the broadest possible market. That makes them dependable and affordable for common needs, and it’s exactly why they struggle with uncommon applications. A product in a catalog or on a line card is built around the “typical” application, but in many cases, not specifically yours.
The gap usually shows up in a few familiar ways:
- It won’t work with your substrate. The coating or adhesive performs well on the materials it was designed for, but not on the one your product uses.
- It fails under one specific condition. Heat, chemical exposure, sterilization or repeated flexing breaks down a material that otherwise tests fine.
- Your requirements pull in opposite directions. Flexible but abrasion resistant. A strong bond that still releases cleanly. Catalog products rarely balance trade-offs like these.
When no commercial option works, the remaining choices may not seem very attractive. So teams may compromise on the spec and accept lower performance. They may also redesign the product around whatever material is available, which costs engineering time and sometimes eliminates some features that made the product worth building. They try to modify a commercial material in-house with additives or primers, often trading one problem for another. Or they end up shelving the project when no suitable pre-made solution can be found.
There is another option, however: a material built specifically for your application from the start. If that’s where you are right now, tell us about your application.
How Custom Polymer Development Works
Recently, National Polymer engaged with a medical device manufacturer to develop a polymeric material that could work as an adhesive in a biomedical application where purity and specific chemical composition were critical to the material’s performance. NP worked closely with the client to fine tune all aspects of the product, including testing for performance requirements, development of the required chemical composition, processing variable controls, equipment design for manufacturing, and certification of the manufacturing method. Multiple samples were submitted over the course of several months before an approved formula was achieved. We were able to scale the formula to full scale manufacturing and provided all necessary documentation for the customer.
Iterative sampling is often an important part of a custom polymer development project, and good communication is critical to success. Here’s how a project like the one outlined above moves through the custom development process:
- Formulation. We start with the requirements: the materials, the performance targets, the conditions the custom polymer must survive, and at the volumes the client expects to need. Our formulation chemists then develop candidate polymers designed around those requirements.
- Small-batch testing. The most promising formulations are produced in small batches and tested against the customer provided specs. The client sees real performance data before committing to anything larger.
- Scale-up. A formulation that works in a lab batch doesn’t always behave the same way at production sized levels, where mixing, heat and timing all change. We confirm the custom polymer performs consistently at larger batch sizes before it moves to production.
- Production. We produce the newly designed custom polymer via our rigorous quality systems, either in-house or with a manufacturing partner, and supply it for use on the client’s own manufacturing line or help them secure an outside contractor for production.
The industry and customers may change from project to project, but the path stays the same. It might be an adhesive for an electronics assembly, a protective coating for an aerospace component, or a coated film produced through roll-to-roll coating. In every case we define the requirement, formulate it, prove it small, prove it at scale, and then produce it or help the client produce it.
What Custom Polymers Cost and What You Get for Your Investment
As is likely expected, a custom polymer is generally more expensive than a commercial off-the-shelf material. Development takes lab time, testing, and scale-up work, which are all reflected in the price. If a catalog product meets your requirements, it’s the right choice for many reasons.
By the time most clients reach us, though, the off-the-shelf option has already failed. The comparison that matters isn’t custom versus off-the-shelf. It’s custom versus the cost of compromising on the spec, redesigning the product, delaying the launch or abandoning the project.
Here’s what the premium buys:
- A material formulated to your specification, not adapted from someone else’s.
- Performance proven in small batches to be tested before you commit to production volumes.
- Confirmed consistency at scale, so the material you approved is the material you get in the quantities you require.
- A formulation built for you alone, with the flexibility to produce it in-house if that suits your operation, or have the finished formulation delivered to you ready for your production application.
For the person who must justify the budget, that’s a clear answer. The higher cost is tied to a material that does the job, with the development risk limited at each stage.
Three Ways a Custom Polymer Project Can End
Not every client needs the same scope, so each engagement ends where it makes sense for the client.
- Formulation only. Some clients need just the recipe itself: the exact components and amounts that produce the material. They take it from there.
- Development with an in-house handoff. We develop the material, prove it in small batches and complete scale-up. The client then produces it in their own facility, and our team can work with theirs on site to bring the new material into their production operations.
- Start to finish. We handle custom polymer manufacturing at production volume through batch production, producing and supplying the material itself or producing a finished product for the client to their specifications.
Not sure which path fits your project? That’s an easy conversation to have early. Share your application with us and we’ll help define the right scope.
Built for One Client, Kept Confidential
We’re not a polymer supplier or distributor. We don’t produce a product catalog, and we don’t sell the same material over and over to anyone who places an order. Every formulation we develop is built for one client and, usually, one specific application.
That formulation stays with the client. Our team builds expertise from every project, but we don’t resell or reuse a client’s formulation or material. Ownership terms are set in writing before work begins, and if you need us to stay out of your application or market entirely, we can discuss exclusivity and non-compete agreements.
Many of our projects involve proprietary products and processes, so confidentiality is built into how we work. We routinely sign non-disclosure, confidentiality and non-analysis agreements, and our team has more than 100 years of combined experience in contract development and manufacturing.
Frequently Asked Questions
No. We don’t produce a catalog, line cards or price sheets, and we don’t respond to general RFQs or purchase orders for off-the-shelf materials. Everything we manufacture is developed for a specific client and a specific application. If you need a material that commercially available products can’t deliver, that’s where we come in.
Yes. We handle the full path: R&D and formulation, small-batch testing, scale-up, and production. We produce your material through our rigorous quality systems, either in-house or via one of our manufacturing partners. Scale-up gets particular attention, because a formulation that works in the lab must perform the same way at a larger production volume.
Yes. Every engagement is scoped to the project. Some clients need full production; others need only a working prototype, a small verification batch, or a documented formulation. We’ll discuss your goals and define the scope with you before any work begins.
Yes. Some clients take production in-house once the formulation is proven in small batches and scale-up. When they do, we can work with their team on site to help integrate the newly developed custom material into their own production operations.
The materials and formulations we develop are created for your specific application, and we don’t resell or reuse them for other clients. Our team naturally builds expertise from every project, but a client’s formulation stays with that client. Ownership terms are defined in writing before the project begins. If you need us to stay out of your specific application or market entirely, we can discuss exclusivity or non-compete agreements.
Yes. We routinely sign non-disclosure, confidentiality and non-analysis agreements with clients and prospective clients, and we’re happy to review your organization’s own agreements before or after an initial consultation. Project information is shared internally only with the people working on your project, and anything you provide is used solely for your project. Learn more about how we protect client information.
Have an Application Nothing Else Can Handle?
If you’ve tested the commercial options and none of them meet your requirements, we’d like to hear about it. Initial consultations are free.
When you contact us, please include the details of your project: the materials involved, your performance requirements and your expected volumes. The more we know up front, the faster and more usefully we can respond. And because all our work is custom, we’re unable to respond to general pricing requests or RFQs that aren’t tied to a specific project.
