Sandretto UK & Ireland supplies Injection Moulding Machines and automation equipment for manufacturing products for the Healthcare and Pharmaceutical market. Our machines and automation equipment are used to produce products that are used within operating theatres for handling the disposal of items such as needles and scalpels or alternatively to produce nozzles and caps for use within the Pharmaceutical industry.
The products manufactured in this highly critical arena must show high quality and consistency in their result. Sandretto is able to provide complete moulding solutions, providing customers with machines, robots and ancillary equipment in order to keep production lines functioning smoothly and consistently.
Click on any of our case studies to read more how our machines and automation equipment are used in the Healthcare and Pharmaceutical Industry:
Rexam Containers
EIGHT INJECTION MACHINES IN MANUFACTURING CELL IMPROVE THROUGHPUT AND QUALITY AND REDUCE COSTS
At its Portsmouth plant, Rexam Containers produces a range of Sharpak containers used in hospital operating theatres. Purpose designed to receive and eventually dispose of items such as needles and scalpels, the assembled containers incorporate moulded-in membranes, through which the used, sharp items can be pushed for safety, and snap-lock devices to seal the closures when they are full. Filled containers are finally sent away by the hospital for incineration.
Late in 1998, Rexam Containers commenced the redesign of its Sharpak containers which it was then moulding and assembling in Hereford. Redesign was specifically intended to reduce the handling, increase throughput and improve quality standards and consistency. At the same time it was decided to move production to its Portsmouth factory where Rexam has well established injection moulding, blow moulding and extrusion plants producing components for medical and pharmaceutical applications.
Described by Engineering Manager Richard Underhill as “just the first stage” of a major project to automate moulding and assembly, the dedicated manufacturing cell comprises eight Sandretto injection moulding machines of 270 tonne and 550 tonne clamp, together with over £300,000 worth of automation equipment. A conveyor is positioned alongside every moulding machine which are serviced by seven ATM ES-series all-electric, three-axis de-mould robots; these are PC-controlled using the company’s new touch-screen system.
The complete, fully-guarded cell operates under strict, clean-room conditions, the few operators needed to remove finished assemblies being required to wear masks and headgear.
DESIGNED FOR ROBOT HANDLING
Three sizes of Sharpak container are produced, of 6.5, 12 and 22 litres capacity. Redesign had to take in the requirements of robot de-moulding and the subsequent down-stream handling which would take the parts through labelling, stacking and assembly. First step was to reduce the number of components from five to three; a container now comprises a closure and cover, assembled automatically in the cell, and a base. All are delivered to a sister company which completes the assembly for delivery to hospitals.
It was at the design stage when, as self-confessed newcomers to automated manufacture, Rexam Containers made presentations to what had become a short list of machine manufacturers and automation specialists. The presentation spelt out precisely what Rexam needed to achieve in terms of throughput, cost reduction and quality levels, and requested practical responses from their prospective suppliers.
“By far the most practical and comprehensive responses came from Sandretto and ATM” states Richard Underhill, “and it became their joint responsibility to provide the plant.”
Facing a very short lead time, engineers from both companies met to determine the sizes of machines, the tooling requirements and – a major exercise – the necessary on-machine and downstream handling systems for the entire cell to function without operators.
In the cell, commissioned in April 1999, is a row of four 270 tonne Sandretto moulding machines alongside a row of four 550 Mega T machines ordered specifically for the project. Six of the moulding machines are equipped with ATM de-mould robots; the seventh robot serves two machines and the linked assembly fixture.
COMPLEX MANUFACTURING CYCLES
Bases are moulded on three of the 550 tonne machines – in two-impression moulds for the 6.5 and 12 litre sizes, and a single impression for the 22 litre. The fourth 550 tonne moulds the 12 litre covers from a two-impression tool.
This is one of two particularly complex cycles performed by robots in the cell. During the dies-closed period, the robot collects closures from a hopper-based orientation device alongside the moulding machine. Labour is required in this instance to maintain the supply of closures which are moulded on one of the 270 tonners.
The closures are small, round caps incorporating the aperture through which the used surgery items are inserted. An elevating conveyor takes these closures past sensors which use the apertures to orientate the closures for the robot to place them correctly into an assembly fixture.
The mould then opens for the robot to remove the two covers and place them over the closures in the assembly fixture. The robot retracts, to allow the fixture to snap the covers over the closures, and then returns to pick up the assemblies and stack them on the take-off conveyor at the side of the moulding machine.
The 270 tonne injection machine moulding these 12 litre closures in a six-impression tool is also used mould the 6.5 litre covers from a 2-impression tool. The remaining moulding machines are dedicated to the production of single items.
VITAL ENGINEERING CO-OPERATION
The sub-cell comprising the two, linked 270 tonne machines operating on identical cycle times employs a single ES2000 robot, travelling on a gantry between them. First operation is to de-mould a 22-litre closure from the one and place it in a fixture. It moves to the second machine, as the dies open, to remove the cover and place it over the closure already in the fixture. The robot withdraws, for the fixture to snap the mating parts together, and returns to the first machine to de-mould the next closure. A small pick-and-place robot is used to pick up the assembly and stack it for collection.
Essential for the successful operation of this cell are identical cycle times for two quite different mouldings, one of them incorporating a membrane.
AUTOMATION COMMENCES WITH MATERIAL FEED …
Law requires that every base carries a detailed instruction label; these are applied automatically as part of the post-moulding operations. Automation also extends to the handling of materials to the masterbatch units on every machine; bases and covers are yellow, closures are blue.
The demands of the application require that production is subjected to close and constant monitoring particularly on needle penetration through the membrane. For this reason polypropylene with a melt index of 3.5 has to be used.
… AND WILL MOVE ON FURTHER
Richard Underhill explains that, following pre-production trials on the downstream handling equipment, the eight moulding machines, robots and handling systems had all functioned smoothly and very much to specification. “Next stage” he says, “is to automate more of the assembly – along the lines of the covers-to-closures already carried out on the pair of 270 tonners – and final packaging of our assemblies.”
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Intesys
PRECISION AND RELIABILITY LEADS INTESYS OF IRELAND TO INSTALL SANDRETTO MACHINES
Installation of a Sandretto ‘Series Nove’ 220 tonne injection machine last year solved a serious capacity problem for Irish custom moulder Intesys. Subsequent performance of the machine, particularly in terms of precision and repeatability, led to the recent installation of a second ‘Series Nove’ 220 tonne.
Seeking to establish a moulding plant in Ireland, initially to supply telecommunications parts to Scotland, the US company Intesys elected to purchase Monaghan Plastics, one of the West of Ireland’s best established custom moulders. Already specialising in producing parts, such as caps and nozzles for the pharmaceutical industry, the plant had the necessary equipment and expertise. Parts hitherto moulded in the US are now successfully and, for the Scottish customer, more economically produced in Ireland.
The business is being successfully expanded and the initial investment in two Sandrettos, together with polymer handling equipment, colour dosing and granulators, is now to be extended. Intesys has purchased adjacent land which will allow further expansion of its moulding capacity and the possible construction of a ‘clean room’ facility.
In extending its moulding work for the medial and pharmaceutical industries based in Ireland, Intesys is increasingly required to meet short and changing delivery schedules. Because of this, Intesys was insistent that part of the deal would be a dependable after-sales service, for which Sandretto is well reputed.
A major factor behind Sandretto’s strong position in the Irish market is the quality of the company’s engineering staff backed up by a comprehensive spares warehouse in Rugby.
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Merit Plastic Mouldings
‘PURPOSE-BUILT’ SANDRETTO GOES INTO CLEAN ROOM AT MERIT PLASTIC MOULDINGS
Modular construction of the Sandretto ‘Serie Nove’ injection moulding machines has proved of considerable benefit to Merit Plastic Mouldings of Diss in Norfolk. The company has recently installed a 65 tonne, a 100 tonne and a 125 tonne.
A ‘285’ injection unit has been fitted to the injection machine with a 125 tonne locking force, thereby allowing use of notably higher injection pressures. Furthermore, with only a 30 mm diameter screw, the machine performance meets precisely MPM’s requirements for producing a series of laboratory test mouldings.
These are to be moulded from Barex 210I, an impact modified acylonitrile-methyl methacrylate copolymer selected for its gas barrier and chemical resistance properties. The material’s high viscosity and shear sensitivity require that it is processed on high torque, low shear machines. The Sandretto 125 injection machine with a ‘285’ injection unit provides the necessary high injection pressure combined with a very low barrel residence time.
CLEAN ROOM CONDITIONS
As a company describing itself as “a precision injection moulder” serving a wide spread of industries, MPM processes a wide range of engineering-grade and high performance polymers, of which Barex 2101 is typical. The company also boasts specialist capabilities, one of these being the facility to produce mouldings under a controlled environment. The new Sandretto ‘Series Nove’ 125 tonne is the latest addition into this area which is strictly monitored and maintained by specialist contractors.
Due to the material’s high moisture absorption rate, Barex 210I needs drying. For moulding in the clean room, MPM has arranged for the polymer to be fed direct to the machine from an external drier.
CONTINUED EXPANSION
The ‘Serie Nove’ 65 tonne and 100 tonne machines are an essential part of a general, on-going programme at MPM to increase both moulding and post-moulding capacities. Moving all of its post-moulding operations – including ultrasonic welding, metal insert fitment and assembly and various decoration processes – into a new factory building has permitted the company to restructure its current mould hall. This will accommodate the new Sandrettos as well as anticipating future expansion plans.
Remarkably, perhaps, MPM continues to expand on a customer base which is largely confined to what Managing Director Tom Palmer describes as Greater East Anglia. “We do have customers elsewhere in the UK and on mainland Europe, but the bulk of our work is produced for manufacturers in, typically, the truck, garden equipment, household appliance, television and medical equipment industries, all relatively close by.
“Amongst other benefits, this enables us to maintain ‘ship-to-line’ status with several customers and to respond rapidly to customer requirements.”
MPM operates 20 injection machines from 25 tonne to 250 tonne clamp. Until recently the company had specified Sandretto for its medium-to-large machines. The move to order their first 65 tonne from Sandretto was, states Tom Palmer, influenced by the performance of the larger ‘Serie Nove’ machines combined with their low energy requirements. This is made possible by the high energy yield of the hydraulic system, translating into a significantly reduced demand for oil cooling.
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Daton Tools
DATON TOOLS DESIGNS AND DELIVERS TOOLS FOR OVERMOULDING - IN EIGHT WEEKS, REGULARLY
As a toolmaker, Daton Tools of Welwyn Garden City consistently proves itself as a more-than-capable contract moulder. Conversely, for a small trade moulder now operating five Sandretto machines from 50 tonnes to 200 tonnes clamp, the company has a remarkably well equipped toolroom with wire-eroding and CNC machining centres, all supported by full CAD technology.
What is particularly significant, states Managing Director Geoff Taylor, is that this toolroom regularly proves wrong the oft-made claims that British toolmakers cannot match the quality, even less, the delivery times offered by overseas companies.
He cites one example after another of six-week and eight-week delivery times for mould tools which, almost without exception, are complex. Most recent example is a suite of six tools for a Prada consumer device designed by IDEO. Ranging from a single-cavity tool for the 180 mm x 80 mm x 35 mm main body moulding, to a 7-cavity family tool for items as small as 4 mm diameter, all six moulds were completed in less than eight weeks from completion of the component drawings. The main body mould tool was completed in six weeks.
ESTABLISHING A REPUTATION
Although its roots as a toolmaker go back 35 years, Daton Tools functioned for some of this time as part of larger organisations until 1998 when it was re-formed under Geoff Taylor and Technical Director Graeme Inge. Together they succeeded in winning back old customers, notably in the field of overmoulding where Geoff was already establishing a reputation for what remains a specialist process.
“SOUND PARTNERSHIP”
The Prada project quoted above is consequently something of an exception as a new project as it can be described as a conventional plastics moulding. It is, however, extremely complex and has to be moulded to within very tight tolerances for which Geoff Taylor relies substantially on his five Sandretto moulding machines. “I’d used Sandretto before we formed Daton Tools and it was an obvious move to specify them in the new factory.
“As far as I’m concerned Daton and Sandretto has become a sound partnership. They’ve never let us down – there’s an engineer here if we need one and we can always rely on first class assistance at Rugby when required.”
QUALITY AND TIGHT TOLERANCES
Overmoulding carried out by Daton Tools is always a two- or even three-part process. Small call-off numbers do not justify the investment in a two- or three-shot moulding machine, states Graeme Inge who maintains that the over-moulding process is ideal to maintain the quality and tight tolerances on the one-piece parts demanded by customers such as Blue Arc, Desoutter and IDEO.
Typical of their work is the range of acrylic lenses moulded in to components such as baby monitors used in hospitals, instrument enclosures for earth-moving vehicles and ocean-going yachts and hand-held industrial data-gathering equipment. All require a guaranteed moisture, oil or weather seal provided by the bond between the acrylic lens and the, typically, ABS or PC/ABS body moulding. Earlier development work has enabled Daton Tools to refine a process which overcomes the inability of techniques such as gluing or welding to create the necessary complete seal.
At the small end of the scale, in a four-cavity mould, Daton produces 5 mm diameter seals comprising a polypropylene core (for flexibility) with a PBT outer to provide the necessary rigidity.
“Materials with different properties inevitably induce stresses, so it’s still not an exact science” states Graeme Inge. However, the regular business of the company is to overmould rubber elastomers and polyurethanes successfully over materials such as nylon, PTB and PC/ABS.
THREE-PART MOULDING PROCESS
All of the suite of tools to produce the Automotive Sander for Desoutter are particularly complex. First, the main body is moulded from glass-filled nylon and then inserted, with threaded inserts, into a second tool and over-moulded with Hytrel.
Other air tool mouldings for Desoutter are manufactured by the elastomeric overmoulding of precision turned or CNC machined aluminium cores. This is where careful mould design is essential to maintain a perfect shut-off between the elastomer and the substrate within the required, confined area.
Specification of a soft-feel elastomer as an overmoulding on these applications is to provide comfort and vibration reduction for the operator and insulation against the effects of the inherently cold compressed air.
This is one reason why Daton Tools identifies its CAD-based mould design capabilities as a prime reason for remaining busy in a market which is becoming “frighteningly” competitive. The second reason, already mentioned, is short delivery times. Part of a joint development project, completion of the Desoutter mould tools took less than eight weeks from acceptance of the part drawings.
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Plasti Medical
Sandretto Expertise for Plasti Medical "Clean Rooms"
Leading edge technology, reliability, optimum service and high reputation in the moulding field of medical components have led Plasti Medical, in 30 years of activity, to choose Sandretto technology.
Two new 100 tonne Sandretto Serie Nove S machines have been recently installed to update the machine base for clean room moulding of the Italian leading manufacturer of medical systems.
Established at Villamarzana (Rovigo - Italy) in 1973, Plasti Medical manufactures medical devices, mainly diffusers for phleboclysis, blood transfusion devices, flow controllers and other medical components for infuse systems. 70% of the Company's production is exported to over 60 countries.
After the first years of activity as a supplier of important German groups, the Company widened its expertise creating production departments capable of carrying out in-factory production of all components for medical devices.
Three years ago, the first clean room which initially covered 1300 sq.m., was expanded to cover 3500 sq.m. All production stages, from extrusion to assembly and packing, are run here. The "boast" of Plasti Medical is the extrusion process where tubes for infuse pumps are being moulded with very tight tolerance. Tubes are made from blends of PVC free developed by the Company itself.
In 1986, when the Trevi Company was established at Zola Predosa (Bo), a new clean room (400 sq. m) was constructed for producing 60% of components for Plasti Medical infuse lines.
The remaining 40% is supplied by P.M. Engineering, established in 1991 at Villamarzana, where, besides the clean room, a special department for the design and construction of automatic assembly machines was also set up.
"To meet all the production needs of the different moulded parts" says Fiorenzo Casarotto, founder, partner and technical manager of Plasti Medical, "the company immediately approached the Italian manufacturer of moulding machines with a consolidated experience in the moulding process of plastics for medical applications".
" Sandretto was then selected as single source for injection moulding machines for both clean rooms. With them we discussed and made specific studies on the existing mould base so to see our way clear in the purchase of machines".
Both the clean room at the premises in Zola Predosa (Bologna), equipped with 10 machines (6 Serie Otto of 100 tonne lock, 2 Serie Nove T - a 65 tonne and a 125 tonne - and 2 100-tonne Serie Nove S which have replaced the two historical Serie Sette machines which were the forerunners of the Trevi moulding workshop) and the clean room at Villamarzana factory, equipped with 7 machines (3 Micro in the range 65, 40 and 30 tonne lock and 4 95-tonne Serie Otto machines) operate on 3 shifts (250/300 shots per hour) all the year round. They produce parts made from ABS (puncturing devices, rollers and fittings), from PP (caps and trays), from PE (caps) and from PS (rollers) for the 160,000 infuse devices which are being moulded daily.
The recent installation of two Sandretto Serie Nove S machines equipped with screws of bimetallic construction for moulding glass-reinforced ABS parts will allow Plasti Medical to considerably raise its moulding capacity and to constantly upgrade the automation process.
The models of Serie Micro are employed to produce small parts, such as the body, made from PC and the diffuser made from POM, which form the flow regulator (a Plasti Medical patent). Due to the high tolerance (hundredths of millimetre) required to guarantee tightness and correct down-flow of the physiologic solution based on viscosity, the part design is very critical (these devices can be used in place of infuse pumps). This requires highly reliable machines capable of providing moulding accuracy over time.
All of these needs have been met by Sandretto technology with the added value of a comprehensive service backup.
Fully independent in production, Plasti Medical was among the first companies in the field in Italy to obtain ISO 9001 - EN 46001 certification by TUV Product Service of Munich in 1996.
The certified Quality Assurance also guarantees the high quality of plastic materials being used, accurate check on moulded and extruded parts, conformity to bio-compatibility and chemical-biologic tests, as well as the correct processability conditions to which Sandretto has greatly contributed.
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Pep
Custom moulder PEP installs a new Automotive component manufacturing Cell
Precision Engineering Plastics (PEP) of Tottenham, North London, have set themselves ambitious targets, in the custom moulding sector, every year since they were formed in 1986 and every year they have met their targets both in terms of growth and investment in new equipment.
The latest addition to their 16 machine (20-300 tonnes) engineering moulding facility is a Nove S 220 tonne Sandretto together with a Servo Robot loading system and an automatic packing station. This addition compliments the recent installation of 2-shot capability. The new machine is for a specific dedicated cell to produce a high volume insert moulded technical engineering component for a Tier 1 automotive customer. This addition to the higher tonnage range strengthens PEP’s position in the specialist close-tolerance sector serving the automotive, engineering, electrical and medical industries. PEP’s manufacturing site is being extended by 5,000 sq.feet to cater for the company’s future expansion programme.
Mike Cox - Sales Director at PEP, explained that the equipment for the new cell was purchased to meet the specific requirements of an existing customer, as well as to meet the company commitment to stay ahead of the field in terms of expertise and equipment. Mike said “We have built the business by specialising in technical moulded components and by differentiating ourselves from other moulders in the UK through a “partnership philosophy” which we adopt with every client.”
Mike is confident that PEP’s continued investment in new machinery and a “one stop shop” approach will continue to pay dividends, “We are a QS9000 accredited company with in-house tooling expertise, modern state-of-the-art equipment and a firm commitment to full project management. We like to think of ourselves as an extension of the customer’s operation, committed to moving forward with our customers by offering the complete moulding package.”
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