Seminar Report

Medical Plastics : Materials, Applications And Processing

For Medical Devices And Pharmaceuticals Industries

EFFECTIVE MOULD MAKING

Planning & Coordination for Medical Components

Mr. A.L.Vadhiya,
Vividh Mould Engineering,
69, Narayan estate, Opp. Raipur Mill,

Saraspur, Ahmedabad - 380018.
Phone R/O - 7620823 W - 2138977

Introduction
Injection molding is a common process for manufacturing a large volume of plastic parts. The goal of this process is to consistently produce identical parts from a given mould. Medical device manufacturers face unique challenges for repeatedly molding many types of engineering thermoplastics to tight tolerances that meet performance requirements.

Molders of medical devices strive to produce injection-molded parts that meet the customers' requirements at a cost that maintains profitability for the plant. Although manufactured cost is partly dependant upon the economy and market trends, it is important to examine methods within a manufacturing facility for improving profit margins. In order for a process to be profitable, the molder must complete a job in a set amount of time, with a set amount of material and minimal waste.

Assuming that the molecular weight and molecular weight distribution of the polymer does not change substantially, molders can achieve virtually identical parts by controlling several key variables of the molding process. Although many variables affect the molding process, four variables having the greatest impact on the maintenance of a systematic injection molding process are: injection velocity, plastic temperature, plastic pressure, and cooling temperature and time.


Material Selection for Injection-Molded Devices
Functional performance and quality of a medical device stems form the integrity of three fundamental elements: materials, design, and processing. These three elements have to interact with each other in a synergistic manner to generate a unique function for a device to meet the customer's requirements.

A typical new product development cycle starts with customer requirement definition. Only when customer requirements are fully understood and clearly and accurately defined from the end user's perspective can the ultimate product succeed in the marketplace. A design engineer takes the customer requirements and translate into product requirement definition in engineering terms.

Injection -Molding Machine Basics
The current emphasis in the health-care industry on reducing costs and preventing the accidental transmittance of infectious diseases is creating an ever-expanding market for plastics in medical applications alone plastics account for 74% of the raw material consumed. Advantages plastics has over existing materials include low-cost, design flexibility, parts consolidation, reduced weight, less risk of breakage compared to glass, and extremely consistent parts at high production rates.