ERIE – Precision medical injection molder Plastikos, Inc. has announced the construction of a brand new medical molding facility in support of Plastikos’ cleanroom medical molding growth. The two-part expansion plan will consist of a 33,000-square-foot, stand-alone facility – Plastikos Medical – located less than a quarter mile from its headquarters, 8165 Hawthorne Drive. The target completion date for Phase I of this project is scheduled for summer 2019.
In late 2014, Plastikos broke ground on its first major medical expansion, which consisted of a 17,000-square-foot-addition onto its existing headquarters. Since then, Plastikos’ medical sales have increased more than 100%, which has prompted the need for additional cleanroom medical molding capacity.
The brand new, state-of-the-art facility will include all of the corresponding support departments, including a dedicated tool maintenance room, mold storage, metrology lab, and office space. Initially, Phase I of the ISO 7 (Class 10,000) project will accommodate ten (10) brand new medical injection molding machines. Each machine will be equipped with its own integrated 3-axis robot and cavity pressure monitoring system, among other advanced technologies. Additionally, In order to remain environmentally conscious, the new medical facility will incorporate LED lighting and utilizing natural light with advanced building system management technology.
Plastikos’ Manufacturing Manager, Rob Cooney, commented: “Our goal is to align this new molding facility with complimentary capabilities and equipment that we currently utilize within Plastikos’ current ISO 7 cleanroom. This standardization approach allows us to provide our medical customers with scheduling flexibility, along with several other proprietary benefits that we have seen in our earlier expansion efforts.”
Looking further ahead, Phase II of the Plastikos Medical expansion will consist of an additional 10 medical molding machines as customer demand further increases. Plastikos’ production fleet will increase to 45 injection molding machines with the completion of Phase I of the new stand-alone facility. Future Phase II expansion plans will add another 10 presses to the fleet; thereby, raising the total machine count to 55 molding machines.
“The new medical facility is being strategically designed to enable us to double the size of the new cleanroom molding floor. Ultimately, giving us the ability to accommodate 20 [additional] medical molding machines with another future planned expansion (Phase II),” explained Philip Katen, Plastikos president and general manager.
According to the company, the need for additional staffing has sparked an increase in recruiting efforts as Plastikos ramps up to support 24/7 production across both its medical and electronics molding departments. Additional staff will also allow for a smooth transition as some select individuals move to the new facility upon its completion. “With the local economy in mind, we hope to continue to positively contribute to the local employment picture, and further advance and strengthen the regional plastics industry,” Katen added.
For more information, visit www.plastikoserie.com.
