Businesses that design, manufacture, and produce sensitive equipment have always had a need for strong, durable, and reliable cases for their products. Traditionally speaking, businesses have mostly utilized standard hard/soft cases made from a variety of plastics.
However, ever since the breakthrough development of ethylene-vinyl acetate (otherwise referred to as EVA foam) in the early 1990s, businesses have been gravitating towards the material’s lower manufacturing costs, increased ruggedness, and numerous other associated benefits.
The Benefits of EVA Foam
The customizability of EVA foam is one of the material’s primary benefits. EVA foam can be successfully manufactured at a variety of different hardness levels, ranging from very soft all the way to incredibly stiff (yet still strong). The customization features available with EVA foam mean that your business can create the exact type of case it requires. There are quite a few excellent manufacturers that design and develop custom EVA foam cases for businesses.
Another one of EVA foam’s impressive features is its ability to resist stress cracks, vibrations of all types, and heavy impacts. Nearly any industry that you can think of that deals with sensitive (or expensive) equipment can make use of EVA foam’s advantageous ruggedness and durability.
Additionally, EVA foam has a host of other benefits and features (all of which set EVA foam apart from more traditional manufacturing materials):
- Anti-slip resistance
- Extremely resistant to chemicals (e.g. acids, oils, grease, etc.)
- Very strong protection against environmental hazards
- Able to resist temperatures down to -94 degrees F
EVA foam is clearly an incredible manufacturing material, and one of the reasons why it’s been so heavily used in the manufacturing industry since its initial development is the fact that it has much lower costs compared to traditional materials.
However, before you start thinking up how your product(s) can be enhanced through developing a custom EVA foam case, there are some design considerations that should be considered. Below are the top three design aspects your business needs to think about prior to starting a consultation with a custom EVA case manufacturer.
Designing a Custom EVA Foam Case
The inherent design flexibility of using EVA foam to create custom cases for your business’s products is one of the first things that should be considered. Because of the material’s advanced level of flexibility, you need to think about the overall shape of the case’s exterior. Specifically, how the case is contoured can have a tremendous impact on how the case carries, travels, and is used in day-to-day tasks.
While the exterior of the case is obviously very important, the interior is equally so. The interiors of EVA foam cases are 100% customizable to fit the exact dimensions of your particular product or piece of equipment. While functionality should be a focus, the actual presentation of the case’s interior is important as well.
The other main design consideration you need to keep in mind is how your case will be carried, transported, and sealed. Will it use straps? Handles? Zippers? Think about how your product/equipment will be used, and then think about how the actual users of the case will be handling its transport, use, and storage.
Luckily, nearly all manufacturers of custom foam are fully capable of handling the entire design, testing, and manufacturing process of your business’s case. Of course, if your business or organization requires specific needs, manufacturers also typically offer consultation services to design a custom case that fits your group’s exact needs (and desires).
Why These Foam Cases Are Popular Across Countless Industries
Everyone from government agencies, military organizations, and camera brands, to firearms manufacturers and construction equipment producers (and nearly everything in-between) all use custom EVA foam cases for their particular needs. Ever since the material was created in 1993, it has been used around the world (across nearly every single industry) for its superior (i.e. lowered) cost of manufacturing, ultra-durability, and a vast array of extreme customization options.
EVA foam is considered by many to be the perfect mixture of a hard and soft case, retaining the benefits of each (while ditching the drawbacks). The flexibility inherent in the material’s design (and manufacturing ability) is one of the main reasons why some of the world’s leading corporations and brands turn to foam when they need a superior, low-cost manufacturing material. Most manufacturers of EVA foam have minimum order quantities (which typically start at around the 500 mark). With that being said, you can schedule a consultation with the manufacturer of your choice to layout design ideas, plans, and any specific customizations that your organization/product requires.
