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Quality Tools
QualTeq Card Quality Tools
Plastic transaction cards are becoming more complex to address demands for increased functionality and performance. Performance is directly related to card quality. QualTeq has developed a Total Quality Program to ensure the performance of our plastic cards that we manufacture. At the heart of our program are QualTeq Card Quality comprehensive processes.
Spectrophotometer Color Control
Acu-Gage Card Dimension System
Surface Roughness Measurements
Production Control Gauges & Quality Circle Tables
These unique sets of tools allow QualTeq to measure, evaluate, and manufacture superior plastic cards. Our Quality Tools also support our program and our ISO 9002 Certification.
Acu-Gage Card Dimension System
The Acu-Gage System will measure any dimension on any card or across a sheet of 72 cards to an accuracy of less than 0.001" of an inch.
Dimensional tolerances are checked at all stages of production for PVC sheet dimensions, printing tolerances, 4-color dot print registration, mag stripe location, photo box dimensions, hologram and sig panel placement and smart card chip location as well as any other card features.
The Acu-Gage System forms part of QualTeq's Statistical Process Control Program and ISO 9002 certification.
Surface Roughness Measurements
The surface roughness of the print surfaces of the PVC core material used in plastic cards can determine the quality and color match of the printing. QualTeq incoming inspection checks every shipment of PVC material for surface roughness against our PVC specifications using a Surface Profile Gauge. Mag stripe surface and profile are also checked.
QualTeq uses several tools to determine the durability of our plastics: Flex Tester, Humidity / Temperature Oven, Impact Resistance, and Lamination Adhesion Tester. The durability tests demonstrate the performance of our extended durability cards-the Life Guard Cards®.
Plastic cards are subjected to a great deal of abrasion and scratching wear which contributes to card failures and degraded appearance.
QualTeq tests abrasion of mag stripes, printing, holograms, sig panels and other card features using three different types of abrasion testing tools: Taber Abrasion measures cyclic wear in a controlled test, Linear Abrasion measures card reader wear and Random Abrasion simulates wear by coins, dirt or other media.
Production Control Gauges and Quality Circle Tables
QualTeq manufactures many of its own gauges and tools for Quality and Process Control. Go/No-Go Gauges are produced in our Calibration Lab for use by machine operators for checking various card features: mag stripe, photo box, hologram, sig panel, embossing locations and tolerance. Color matching charts, loops, micrometers, a Go/No-Go Gauge and other Quality Tools are all kept at convenient production Quality Circle Tables located throughout the production areas. The Quality Circle Tables provide a central access point for all Quality Tools, Quality Forms and measurement areas in each production department.
