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1990s - Edge-Clad "Bimetal"  |
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 | · Substantial Material Cost Reduction
· Technically Comparable to Solid Precious Metal
· Reduced Price Flux |
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| No matter how far our innovation in processing times reach, raw material remains the single largest cost variable. Why, because for sliding contacts it has been composed exclusively of precious metal. While others suppliers have interests in the precious metal markets, Micro Contacts has been only concerned with evolving contact technology. To that end, we introduced the concept of the bimetallic alloy. "Bimetal" is simply replacing much of the contact that does not require precious metal with a much more cost effective base metal, and leaves the expensive stuff only where it is needed. This is accomplished by welding a strip of a copper alloy to a much-reduced strip of precious metal and then stamping the contact from this bimetal. The result is a 50% decrease in material price without sacrificing performance. How do we know? Because as of today, pure precious metal use has decreased to fewer than 5% of all the contacts we supply in favor of bimetal contacts. And seeing as most of them find their way into long-life and life-critical applications such as throttle position sensors, the track record speaks for itself. So when we say cost reduction through innovation, we mean it. |
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