Lapping & Polishing Films Market: Introduction
- Lapping and polishing is a process of removing materials precisely from a work piece to produce desired shape, surface finish, and dimension. Lapping & polishing films are applied on a wide range of hard-to-grind materials such as ceramics, carbide, exotic alloys, hardened metals, semiconductors, and composites.
- They are extensively used to polish optical fiber connectors in the electronics industry. These films are polyester based ultra-thin sheets that provide fine finish to electronic components, such as optical fiber connectors, in order to ensure signal transmission. They are also employed in cable assembly production.
- Lapping and polishing films are highly durable and offer fine finishes. They also provide higher cut rate. They are beneficial due to their precision and high accuracy for removing materials. Lapping and polishing films are 50% faster and are available in 0.01-45 μm grades.
- Major raw materials used in the manufacture of lapping and polishing films include polyester, polyamide, polyvinyl chloride, and polyethylene.
Key Drivers of Lapping & Polishing Films Market
- Rise in demand for lapping and polishing films in various applications such as medical devices, optical connector, precision instruments, micro motors, hard disc drives, and glass cleaning is anticipated to drive the lapping & polishing films market during the forecast period
- Lapping and polishing films help in removing chatter and traverse marks. This further helps to reduce reworks and can save downtime on multiple grade sequence. Additionally, these films produces high cut rate and fine finishes, making products highly durable. These factors are expected to boost the market significantly during the forecast period.
- Increase in demand for aluminum oxide and polyester-based lapping & polishing films that offer reliable finish on hard surfaces, flexibility, and steady hold on the film substrate is estimated to drive the market during the forecast period
Rise in Demand for Diamond Films to Offer Attractive Opportunities
- Diamond is one of the hardest materials and has a sharp, angular structure. It is useful in lapping and polishing due to its high removal rates and surface finishing properties. Therefore, increase in focus on diamond films is expected to provide lucrative opportunities to manufacturers operating in the lapping & polishing films market.
Highly Time Consuming and Slow Process Likely to Restrain Market
- Conventional lapping & polishing film producing methods such as slurries and honing stones or bonded wheels based are slow and time consuming process which require long run cycle to provide safe target layer films to the end product. This is estimated to may restrain the market during the forecast period.
- Increase in focus on film-backed abrasive technology that offers consistency and predictable finish tolerances in short run cycle is projected to boost the market during the forecast period
Asia Pacific Expected to Hold Leading Share of Global Lapping & Polishing Films Market
In terms of region, the global lapping & polishing films market can be divided into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa.
- Asia Pacific is a leading consumer of lapping and polishing films. It is expected to hold major share of the global lapping & polishing films market in 2018. China, Japan, and South Korea are the leading consumer of lapping and polishing films in the region due to the rise in application in the electrical & electronics industry.
- The market in India and countries in ASEAN such as Thailand and Vietnam is expected to expand at a significant pace during the forecast period. Increase in FDI investment in the electrical & electronics industry in India and rise in production capacity for electronic products in ASEAN are estimated to propel the demand for lapping and polishing films in the Asia Pacific region.
- The U.S. is the leading consumer of lapping and polishing films in North America. Rise in demand for precision finish for polishing rigid memory disks, fiber optic connectors, and texturing thin film disks is likely to boost the market during the forecast period.
- Demand for lapping and polishing films is likely to rise in Germany, France, and the U.K. in the near future. Growth in the automotive industry and increase in import of electronic items are anticipated to propel the market during the forecast period.
- Latin America and Middle East & Africa are highly dependent on product import from China and the U.S. Improvement in economic conditions and production capacity expansion by key players are anticipated to boost the demand for lapping and polishing films in these regions.
Key Players in Market
Research & development and capacity expansion are key strategies adopted by top players operating in the market.
Key players operating in the global lapping & polishing films market include:
- 3M Company
- Henan Union Abrasives Corp.
- Haining Fusen Tape Co., Ltd.
- Nantong Huaao Plastic Co., Ltd.
- Futamura Chemical Co., Ltd.
- Lee Valley Tools
- Precision Fiber Products, Inc.
- Fiber Instruments Sales Inc.
- Kemet International Ltd
- Fiber Optic Center, Inc.
- Precision Polishing, Inc. (PPI)
- Beijing Grish Hitech Co., Ltd.
- KOVAX CORPRATION
- SANSHIN CO., LTD.
- NORITAKE CO.,LIMITED
- SEIKOH GIKEN Co., Ltd.
Global Lapping & Polishing Films Market: Research Scope
Global Lapping & Polishing Films Market, by Type
- Stretch Film
- Metallized Film
- Adhesive Film
- Shrink Film
- Others
Global Lapping & Polishing Films Market, by Raw Material
- Polyamide
- Poly Vinyl Chloride
- LLDPE
- PE
- Others
Global Lapping & Polishing Films Market, by Film Type
- Diamond Film
- Aluminum Oxide Film
- Silicon Carbide Film
- Coated Flock Pile Film
- Others
Global Lapping & Polishing Films Market, by Application
- Packaging
- Medical
- Electrical & Electronics
- Others
Global Lapping & Polishing Films Market, by Region
- North America
- Europe
- Germany
- France
- U.K.
- Italy
- Spain
- Russia & CIS
- Rest of Europe
- Asia Pacific
- China
- Japan
- India
- ASEAN
- Rest of Asia Pacific
- Latin America
- Brazil
- Mexico
- Rest of Latin America
- Middle East & Africa
- GCC
- South Africa
- Rest of Middle East & Africa
