If you're planning to attend NPE 2009 in Chicago, IL this June, we invite you to stop by our booth in the West Hall (W128031) to meet the new Prospector. Of course, we'd like to meet you too!
- The IDES Team
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Posts from April 2009
Selecting Materials Based on Filler Percentage
Here's a 60-second video on using Prospector's Property Search to select plastic materials based on fillter percentage.
How to Compare Plastics
How do I know which materials in Prospector Have Curve Data?- 1 quick answer and 3 extra tips
Q: The icons are gone in Prosepctor! How do I know which materials have curve data?
A: Hover over any material name on a results table and the quick connect box will appear. If curve data is available for that material the link labeled 'curve data' is blue; if none is available it's grey.
More Tips:
1. Display curve data as a column on any search results table for quick reference
- click on 'Preferences' in the grey menu bar at the top of any page in Prospector
- click 'edit my custom results' under the results header
- a page will pop up that looks like the Property Search
- click on the folder labeled 'General Properties'
- click on the magnifying glass labeled 'multi-point data'
- close the window & go to any results table
- locate the drop down menu labeled 'columns' found on the left side of any results table header
- select 'my properties' in this list to quickly reference which of the materials in your results set has curve data available
- if you don't see any right away click on the column header to sort the curve data to the top
2. Search for curves by type or generic family
- click on the Curve Data icon on Prospector's homepage
- select the data you want (creep modulus vs. time, flexural DMA, etc)
- select the generic family
- click 'view results'
- hover over any material name and click on the 'curve data' link
3. Add curve data to a list of requirements in the Property Search
- click on the Property Search icon
- build a list of requirements based on over 400 properties
- open the General Properties folder
- click on the 'multi-point data' magnifying glass
- choose only the curves you want OR drag your arrow down the list to highlight all curve types
- click view results
- all materials in your results set will have curves available
800-788-4668x214
Comparing Generic Families in Prospector
Yesterday I had someone call who simply wanted to compare HIPS to GPPS. He didn't have any specific grades, manufacturers, or products names in mind- just the generic family. We recently released a new version of Prospector which includes the ability to view and compare typical values for all the generic families in our database. To compare two generic families through Prospector give this a try:
- Log into Prospector and click on the Fast Look Up icon
- Choose the first generic family, in this case PS (HIPS) from the second drop down menu labeled 'Generic Symbol'
- Use the 'Manufacturer/Supplier' drop down menu and choose 'Generic' which indicates all the generic family data provided by IDES
- Click search, find Generic PS (HIPS) on the results table and put a check mark next to it
- Return to the Fast Look Up and start a new search
- This time select PS (GPPS) under 'Generic Symbol' and select 'Generic' as the manufacturer again
- Click search, find Generic PS (GPPS) on the results table and put a check mark next to it
- Click the 'Compare' button in the search results header to open your generic comparison
-Melissa Jones
800-788-4668 x214
New Prospector Goes Live!
It's official, we just released the new version of the Prospector plastics search engine for resin material datasheets! See below the video for descriptions and screenshots of the new features.
New materials search
Search for materials added to Prospector during the past 90 days
Filter search results
Quickly narrow your search results by regional availability, material status, processing method & filtered text.
Export data
Export datasheets or search results into a spreadsheet
(Available to customers that are subscribed to our advanced search features including Alternative Resins Search, Property Search, Automotive Plastics Search, and Curve Data Search)
Quick Connect
A widget that provides a snapshot of each material and includes links to additional product information including where to buy, alternative resins search, automotive approved plastics, curve data, literature and technical documents, and processing information.
Quick Connect also includes a short description of the material so you can quickly review plastics as you mouse-over materials listed in the search results table. Also we highlight each material's status so that you immediately know if the grade is commercially available or not.
Datasheet navigation
A tabular view of each datasheet to intuitively display specific property, processing, and curve data.
Processing information
Now there is a tab on the datasheet dedicated to processing information and literature provided by the manufacturer.
Literature & documentation
From the literature tab on the datasheets, you can access available documents from the manufacturer such as processing guides, regulatory documents like RoHS, and chemical resistance data.
Where to buy
View both manufacturer & distributor contact information to learn where to buy grades. We've also integrated listings of plastics for sale through The Plastics Marketplace™.
Datasheet actions
You can compare a material's properties to typical values of other grades within the same generic family found throughout Prospector. You can also email and print datasheets, view pdf versions of each datasheet, and add grades to your 'My Materials' folder for future reference.
Revision history
With revision history located in the bottom right corner of each datasheet, you can quickly see the date the material was added to Prospector and when we lasted updated information for each grade.
