Lithium-Ion Battery Membrane Switch Collaboration

JN White® had a prior long-standing relationship with a world leading manufacturer of solar and motive batteries. Their engineers required the integration of a digitally printed graphic overlay and membrane switch for their new deep-cycle lithium-ion battery. The membrane switch incorporates six embedded LEDs, as battery status indicators, that light up when the embossed status button is actuated. The blue, red, and green LED’s display different patterns to alert the user of battery status. JN White was able to test and integrate the digitally printed graphic overlay to a membrane switch manufactured by their China partner. The challenge was to have an overlay that could withstand harsh environments such as sand, dust, extreme temperature and water, as well as provide the end user with the ease of assessing battery life on the battery itself and produce the product competitively at a high volume. The manufacturer was expecting to use 75,000 of these the following year.

How JN White® Helped

Through a collaborative effort between JN White and the customer, the design and engineering teams worked through the challenges and came up with a solution.

  • Prioritizing Durability- The team choose a weatherable polycarbonate coated graphic overlay resistant to chemicals, extreme temperature, exposure to sand, dust and debris, humidity/water, UV rays, and more. This solution ensured that the product can operate reliably under any condition.
  • Outstanding Graphics- JN White’s digital printing technologies allowed us to produce the graphic overlay in full photographic quality, highlighting the carbon fiber gradient background pattern the client had envisioned.
  • Collaboration- Having a hybrid JN White graphic overlay (digital and screen printing combined for extreme durability) and Chinese produced membrane switch allowed us to sell competitively in the market place. This collaboration allowed JN White to drive the volumes the customer required, with the potential to grow to two million units annually. After an audit of our facility to better understand our supply chain and our ability to manage high volume jobs, they validated JN White’s ability to support their volume positively.

The Result

The JN White team applied their extensive experience in graphic overlay and membrane switch manufacturing to meet all of the customer’s requirements for durability and quality. It was through the engineering teams from both firms, and the collaboration with our Asia partners, we were able to develop a solution that allowed us to drive the volume of products needed, with the protentional for further growth into the future.

See What Our Customers Are Saying

"Very pleased with your team's response to our need during the COVID-19 crisis."
Lisa L., Medical Device
"JN White has been exceptional in working with our company in order to develop the look and feel of our new MRI patient worn transmitter. We had originally worked with a prior manufacturer for an earlier version of this product with much less desirable results. JN White delivered a clean professional product at a very reasonable price on time!"
Gary P., Medical
"We had very little information to work with and Jessica James made it nearly effortless on our end to get us exactly what we needed in a timely manner."
Lexi W., Industrial Equipment
"Getting any after-market graphic overlays done always has a certain risk factor in getting it all right. You guys were helpful, patient, & knowledgeable to achieve the best end result. Even pointing out some things that might be [an] oversight or [areas for] improvements. The outcome was perfect."
John S., Technology
"The print task was between the USA and Australia and everything went so smooth. I submitted a drawing, got a return email for me to confirm what I wanted. Even though this was over the Christmas period the print was waiting for me when I got back to work after the holidays. Great job and thanks."
Matt C., Military
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Vern L., Industrial
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Sara H., Medical
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Marie P., Government
"I found working with Sara to be a pleasant experience. We were trying to dial in the color to get just the right look on the printed substrate...Sara sent us a sample print sheet that had several variations, up and down, from the colors we specified, which allowed me to pick exactly the color we wanted. The end result product is perfect!"
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