Factors affecting Velostat price and other volume conductive film

Customers always want to know “Can I get this LINQSTAT Volume Conductive Film (a 3M Velostat* Alternative) any cheaper?” At first glance it seems like a salesman’s worst nightmare, but when you turn the question to the process engineering team within the production department, you get a whole different reaction. So whether you are using our LINQSTAT material, or Velostat – here are tips on getting a better Velostat price.

“You sure can!” is the reply I got recently from a process engineer.  Upon further discussion, he gave me some tips that I have included here as a guidelines.  Hopefully they serve others as well as they have served me.

It turns out that the price of the LINQSTAT volume conductive film are heavily influenced by two specific attributes of the roll and there is one attribute that has marginal effect on the product cost.  These three elements are as follows:

1. The thickness of the roll
2. The length of the roll and
3. The width of the roll (ie. the slitting of the rolls)

LINQSTAT or Velostat Price is Affected by Roll Thickness

The most popular thickness for the rolls of volume conductive film is 4mil (102µm), but this normally makes it only the most readily available, not necessarily the cheapest.  2 mil (50µm) and 3mil (76µm) film thicknesses are also possible, and since the product (and the shipping costs) are dependent on the amount of material used, 2mil and 3mil will be cheaper than the 4 mil.

Though you will need to contact us for an actual quotation, a close approximation is that the 3mil thick LINQSTAT will be about 10% cheaper than the 4mil thick version and the 2 mil is about 15% cheaper than the 4mil thick version.

Yes, some of the properties will vary depending on the thickness used, but if you can test a thinner version and it works for you, then start enjoying the savings.

LINQSTAT or Velostat Price is Affected by Roll Length

The loading and unloading of the rolls is a manual process, but once the machine is running, there are very few extra costs associated and the discounts that CAPLINQ gets from this can be passed on directly to the customer.

Assuming you need to have 150′ (46m) lengths, you will pay a premium to have them delivered in such (relatively) short lengths.  In widths wider than a couple inches, these rolls can also be supplied in lengths up to 1500′ (457m).  Granted that these lengths can be more cumbersome to handle, but if the operators and machines can handle it, why not take the savings.

To give you an idea, (though again you should contact a sales representative for an official quotation), a 1500′ roll is about 35% cheaper than a 150′ roll of the same product.  Elements to consider for this are the loading and unloading of the rolls, the individual cores needed for each roll (and end caps) and individual packaging of the rolls in static-free bags.

Example for rolls of 9″ wide (229mm) x 0.004″ (102µm) thick Linqstat

To give you a better idea of what we’re talking about let me give you an example to show you the differences:

Of course, if 1500′ is not possible, you can go shorter (750′, 500′ or even 250′) and there will be a little savings in each roll length longer than the original 150′.

LINQSTAT or Velostat Price is Affected by Roll Width (ie. the slitting of the rolls)

As it turns out, there is very little effect on pricing if the roll widths are longer or shorter.  The slitting time is relatively short and does not play a large roll in determining the final product price.

* 3M is a registered trademark of 3M Corporation. Velostat is a trademark of 3M Corporation. Neither is affiliated with this site.

CAPLINQ is a specialty plastics supplier offering a range of conductive materials including our broad range of electrically conductive plastics and antistatic tapes and films. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us to find out how we can help you with other factors that may affect the Velostat price.