Plastikos Inc., a US-based precision injection moulder, has announced the construction of a new facility in support of its cleanroom medical moulding growth, Plastics Today has reported. The company is headquartered in Erie, Pennsylvania.
The project is for a 33,000 sq ft, stand-alone facility for the Plastikos Medical division. Built in two phases, the target completion for phase I is scheduled for summer 2019.
Plastikos is set to invest in all corresponding support departments, including a dedicated tool maintenance room, mould storage, metrology lab and office space. The first stage of construction will include an ISO Class 7 (Class 10,000) cleanroom and will accommodate 10 new injection moulding machines featuring integrated three-axis robot and cavity pressure monitoring system and other advanced technologies.
Other features planned for the site include the use of both LED lighting and natural light with advanced building system management technology.
“Our goal is to align this new moulding facility with complimentary capabilities and equipment that we currently utilise within Plastikos’ current ISO 7 cleanroom," explained Rob Cooney, manufacturing manager.
Cooney said this standardisation approach allows Plastikos to provide its medical customers with scheduling flexibility, along with several other proprietary benefits that we have seen in our earlier expansion efforts.
This investment follows on Plastikos' major expansion, which started in late 2014 when the company broke ground on a 17,000 sq ft space at is headquarters. Since then, Plastikos’ has reported more that 100% increase in medical sales, which prompted the latest expansion plan.
Plastikos' core business in plastic manufacturing includes medication delivery systems, surgical eye care, microfluidics and electronic connectors, among others.
Cleanroom Technology understands that phase II is aligned with customers' demand, hence the expansion will consider an additional 10 moulding machines.
Upon completion of phase I Plastikos’ production capacity will increase to 45 injection moulding machines.
Philip Katen, president and general manager, commented: “The new medical facility is being strategically designed to enable us to double the size of the new cleanroom moulding floor, ultimately giving us the ability to accommodate 20 [additional] medical moulding machines with another future planned expansion in Phase II.”
The investment plans also consider additional personnel.