Plastics News - Medical

Thursday, Aug. 28, 2008

Medical

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SMC Ltd. purchases Calif. injection molder
SANTA ROSA, CALIF. (Aug. 21, 6 p.m. EDT) -- Medical- and pharmaceutical-device contract manufacturer SMC Ltd. has acquired custom injection molder Stoesser-Gordon Plastics from Stoesser Industries Inc.

Thermo Fisher launches biocenter, shifts operations
WALTHAM,MASS. (Aug. 12, 1:55 p.m. EDT) -- With the opening of the first phase of a biocenter at its Logan, Utah, operation, Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. plans to shutter a production facility in Novato, Calif., by early next year. Operations that will shift to Utah include specialty film manufacturing.

Murder trial to start for Poly Vac´s Brooks
BRENTWOOD, N.H. (Aug. 8, 9:30 a.m. EDT) -- Hundreds are being screened for possible jury service. Prosecutors have compiled a list of 410 potential witnesses. And now the main event — a capital murder trial — begins for John A. Brooks, 56. Brooks is accused in the slaying of Jack Reid Sr., who officials say was beaten with a hammer.

Zeus adds bioabsorbable polymers to lineup
ORANGEBURG, S.C. (Aug. 7, 4:05 p.m. EDT) -- Precision polymer extruder Zeus Inc. of Orangeburg now is able to make advanced bioabsorbable materials, primarily for medical devices and pharmaceutical applications.

Compounders facing year of soaring costs

AKRON, OHIO (Aug. 4, 11:25 a.m. EDT) -- If North American compounders were asked to pick a Word of the Year for 2008, the word “unprecedented” would get a lot of votes. That’s how compounding executives describe what’s happening to them on the raw materials front.

Still shifting things around, Pliant expanding in Ky.
DANVILLE, KY. (July 30, 5:05 p.m. EDT) -- Fresh off a recent round of announced plant closings, packaging supplier Pliant Corp. said it will invest $1.9 million to expand its Danville plant and create about 60 new jobs by May.

France´s Texen buys Mar-Lee Cos.
LEOMINSTER, MASS. (July 29, 5:00 p.m. EDT) — Texen, the plastic packaging arm of French company PSB Industries SA, plans to expand its U.S. operations with the purchase of injection molder and mold maker Mar-Lee Cos. Inc.

Plastics help designs bring home IDSA gold
DULLES, VA. (July 28, 12:20 p.m. EDT) -- A low-cost laptop, a featherlike welding helmet and a customized baby bottle were among the products making good use of plastics in winning 2008 International Design Excellence Awards. The annual contest, co-sponsored by the Industrial Designers Society of America and BusinessWeek magazine, drew 1,517 entries from 33 countries.

Managers acquire injection molder MXL
LANCASTER, PA. (July 25, 6 p.m. EDT) -- Lancaster-based injection molder MXL Industries Inc. is under new ownership after a group of upper-level managers bought the company from National Patent Development Corp., a distributor of home-improvement products and hardware.

N.H. contract molder invests in expansion
MERRIMACK, N.H. (July 25, 5:50 p.m. EDT) -- Contract molder Tech NH Inc. recently completed a 7,000-square-foot addition to its Merrimack plant and installed a 780-ton Nissei injection press. The company also plans to add a 700-square-foot clean room by the end of August.

Wis. molder Accelerated builds bigger plant
HUDSON, WIS. (July 25, 4:50 p.m. EDT) -- Injection molder Accelerated Plastics LLC plans to boost operations by constructing a 10,000-square-foot facility. The company now makes parts for the medical, outdoor and electronics industries at a 6,500-square-foot site that it leases.

Mount Olive relocating within Indiana
MOORESVILLE, IND. (July 22, 4:30 p.m. EDT) -- Mount Olive Manufacturing Inc. plans to move from Plainfield, Ind., to a larger facility in Mooresville at a cost of about $2.2 million, officials said.

Nanocomposites help toughen up TPUs

Martin

BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA (July 21, 11:35 a.m. EDT) -- University of Queensland researchers have discovered how to use nanotechnology to make thermoplastic polyurethane stronger while retaining its flexibility. Now they are moving to test the marketability of the process in products as diverse as golf balls, wound dressings and conveyor belts.

Tenacore, recently purchased Newport, growing
SANTA ANA, CALIF. (July 18, 7:55 p.m. EDT) -- Owners of Tenacore Holdings Inc., which acquired Newport Plastics LLC earlier this year, are upgrading both operations.

Michigan molder Modern Plastics closing
BENTON HARBOR, MICH. (July 16, 11:55 p.m. EDT) -- Modern Plastics Corp., founded in 1937, and one of the oldest U.S. plastics companies, is closing down — blaming too-high costs for resin, utilities, transportation and health care, the inability to pass along price increases, customer financial problems and loss of work to Mexico and China.