Hot shots: injection moulding at its best

Lu Rahman selects some of 2019’s injection moulding expertise.

It was a good year for RJG Technologies which was recognised with Best Injection Moulding Process Support Specialists 2019 at the SME Midlands Enterprise Awards.

The award followed on from RJG Technologies winning the Best UK Plastic Injection Moulding Consultancy in the Pharmaceutical Manufacturing & Packaging Awards.

According to the company the team at RJG takes great pride in everything it does and winning the Best Injection Moulding Process Support Specialists in the SME Midlands 2019 Enterprise Awards is recognition of this.

The company was pleased to be recognised for the support it gives to its customers in its region through its training and consultancy services. It works with many well-known names in the plastic sector helping them to succeed in what they do.

In the last 12 months it has supported a number of initiatives that have been delivered on time meeting the customers’ expectations, and says it has developed a reputation for delivering what it says it will.

The global respiratory care devices market is expected to grow at a rate of 9.65% in the next five years. Medical device manufacturer, Armstrong Medical has ensured it is in a prime position to take advantage of future opportunities, by adding to its injection moulding machine portfolio.

Faced with a need to increase production after negotiating a contract to supply a carbon dioxide absorbent for use in anaesthesia the company acquired a hybrid Systec Servo 160 from Sumitomo (SHI) Demag.

Back in 2007 a fire engulfed the company’s premises. Armstrong Medical rapidly reconstructed the production facility it had built up since 2003, ordering replacement injection moulding machines from Sumitomo (SHI) Demag. Just two years later the firm received The Queen's Award for Enterprise for International Trade.

“All of the assembly and manufacturing areas were destroyed, but we managed to keep a warehouse that had only been handed over the previous week,” recalls Nigel Simpson, plastics project manager at Armstrong Medical. “That was a turning point for us because we were able to rebuild the way we wanted to and set the operation up to suit our needs.”

Today, the company has 11 injection moulding machines, two bench top moulding machines, a liquid silicone rubber (LSR) production cell and various other pieces of equipment tailored exclusively to Armstrong’s production process. Exporting to over 120 countries – and being predominantly involved in the production of high quality, innovative respiratory disposables for anaesthesia and critical care – Armstrong Medical’s plant also features class 10,000 and 100,000-type assembly cleanrooms.

A regular at the Med-Tech Innovation Expo, Boddingtons recently won the Industrial design Award at the Plastics Industry Awards for its work with Cytosystems on a new bladder cancer detection product – BladderLight – which involved thirty moulded products.

The company’s £4.6 million manufacturing facility – incorporating a modular Class 7 cleanroom – was launched by Lord Digby Jones at the end of 2016 and is now undergoing further investment and development.

Since the launch of this manufacturing facility, Boddingtons has expanded the scope and volume of its med-tech manufacturing services. It is certified to ISO13485 and ISO9001 Quality Management Systems Requirements and is also compliant with FDA 21 CFR Part 820.

Andy Tibbs, CEO, says: “Our aim at Boddingtons is to be nothing less than a world-class supplier of injection moulding competences to the global medical and healthcare sectors – from first concepts to final assembly and shipping and all manufacturing and injection moulding points in between. We invite all in the sector to partner with us for future growth.”