MEDICAL MOULDING | TECHNOLOGY
Precision and progress in medical moulding
Demand for medical innovation has never been higher and injection moulding can deliver the high-quality devices and components that the industry requires. By Mark Holmes
Injection moulding machinery manufacturers continue to see a buoyant medical moulding market in the years to come. The global medical injection moulding market size was valued at $1.38bn in 2019 and is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 8.2% between 2020 and 2027, according to a Grand View Research report in September 2020. Much of this growth is being driven by advances in the home healthcare sector and an ageing population, which the World Health Organisation predicts will double by 2050. Plastics moulding continues to be used for many medical applications, including manufacturing implantable components, test tubes, beakers, casings and housings for laboratory and medical equipment, drug delivery components and surgical equipment, reports Sumitomo (SHI) Demag. “Rising demand for medical devices across hospitals and laboratories during the Covid-19 pandemic has had a positive impact on market growth,” says Darren Herron, National Sales Manager, Sumitomo (SHI) Demag UK. “Within Sumitomo (SHI) Demag, demand for medical
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technology solutions rose by almost 50%. Here, the focus was on delivering machines to support the production of applications for in-vitro diagnostics to support the devices which perform Covid-19 tests. The main products are pipette tips and PCR-plates. In addition, for our customers like Avenue [see below], specific growth applications include various airway delivery components, diagnostic test kits and moulded parts for IV fluid delivery sets. Surgical medical device components are another growing area within their business.” New technical developments in medical moulding include advanced batch tracking, contact-free inspection using cameras, and highly automated assembly to meet the market’s preci- sion and quality control requirements. “As a high liability market, traceability is not just about mandatory information and supply chain tracking,” adds Herron. “Real-time traceability is about being able to call up data and verify the exact settings used on the injection moulding machine when that individual plastic part was made.” To achieve such traceability, a Manufacturing
Main image: For the demonstration of Engel’s next generation E-mac ma- chines, an
E-mac 265/180 produced pipette tips
September 2021 | INJECTION WORLD 25
IMAGE: ENGEL
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