Skip to main content
Sister Publication Links
  • Sustainable Plastics
  • Rubber News
Subscribe
  • Login
  • Register
  • Subscribe
  • News
    • Processor News
    • Suppliers
    • More News
    • Digital Edition
    • End Markets
    • Special Reports
    • Newsletters
    • Resin pricing news
    • Videos
    • Injection Molding
    • Blow Molding
    • Film & Sheet
    • Pipe/Profile/Tubing
    • Rotomolding
    • Thermoforming
    • Recycling
    • Machinery
    • Materials
    • Molds/Tooling
    • Product news
    • Design
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Sustainability
    • Public Policy
    • Material Insights Videos
    • Numbers that Matter
    • Automotive
    • Packaging
    • Medical
    • Consumer Products
    • Construction
    • CEO Issue
    • Diversity
    • Best Places to Work
      • 2022 winners
    • Processor of the Year
    • Rising Stars
    • Women Breaking the Mold
      • 2022 class
  • Opinion
    • The Plastics Blog
    • Kickstart
    • One Good Resin
    • Pellets and Politics
    • All Things Data
    • Viewpoint
    • From Pillar to Post
    • Perspective
    • Mailbag
    • Fake Plastic Trees
  • Shop Floor
    • Blending
    • Compounding
    • Drying
    • Injection Molding
    • Purging
    • Robotics
    • Size Reduction
    • Structural Foam
    • Tooling
    • Training
  • Events
    • K Show Livestream
    • Plastics News Events
    • Industry Events
    • Injection Molding & Design Expo
    • Livestreams/Webinars
    • Editorial Livestreams
    • Ask the Expert
    • Plastics News Events Library
    • Processor of the Year submissions
    • Plastics News Executive Forum
    • Injection Molding & Design Expo
    • Plastics News Caps & Closures
    • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum
    • Plastics in Automotive
    • PN Live: Mergers and Acquisitions
    • Polymer Points Live
    • Numbers that Matter Live
    • Plastics in Politics Live
    • Sustainable Plastics Live
    • Plastics Caps & Closures Library
    • Plastics in Healthcare Library
    • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum Library
  • Resin Prices
    • All Resins
    • Commodity TPs
    • High Temp TPs
    • ETPs
    • Thermosets
    • Recycled Plastics
    • Historic Commodity Thermoplastics
    • Historic High Temp Thermoplastics
    • Historic Engineering Thermoplastics
    • Historic Thermosets
    • Historic Recycled Plastics
  • Rankings & Data
    • Injection Molders
    • Blow Molders
    • Film Sheet
    • Thermoformers
    • Pipe Profile Tubing
    • Rotomolders
    • Mold/Toolmakers
    • LSR Processors
    • Recyclers
    • Compounders - List
    • Association - List
    • Plastic Lumber - List
    • All
  • Directory
  • Custom
    • Sponsored Content
    • LS Mtron Sponsored Content
    • Conair Sponsored Content
    • KraussMaffei Sponsored Content
    • ENGEL Sponsored Content
    • White Papers
    • Classifieds
    • Place an Ad
    • Sign up for Early Classified
MENU
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. News
News
January 09, 2012 01:00 AM

BIOMEDEVICE

  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Reprints Print

    Plastics News West Coast correspondent Roger Renstrom gathered these news stories at Biomedevice 2011 in San Jose, Calif. The exposition and conference ran Dec. 6-7.

    PTA Plastics adding Toshiba 240-tonner

    Injection molder PTA Corp., which does business as PTA Plastics, made financial gains this year beyond recovery, according to operations Vice President Rich Dorans.

    “We are back to where we were in 2008, and now we are exceeding those sales,” Dorans said.

    PTA is finding success in its core medical and defense markets and has ordered a 240-ton Toshiba, which is slated to begin operating sometime in January at the firm's Longmont, Colo., plant, he said.

    The Longmont plant added two 85-ton Toshibas in 2011, one in March, the other in July.

    PTA's 13 presses in Longmont, and 10 more at its plant in Oxford, Conn., range in clamping force from 45-1,370 tons.

    Dorans said PTA employs a total of 165, including 10 persons hired since mid-2010.

    China work returns, lands at Distinctive

    Injection molder Distinctive Plastics Inc. of Vista, Calif., has received another influx of work from Asia.

    “A customer is bringing 33 molds from China during December,” said President Timothy Curnutt. “They are on a ship now. The same customer brought back six molds in early 2011.”

    Curnutt noted the customer went to China for services about five years ago but has encountered problems with tariffs, wages and mold maintenance.

    Distinctive added a 66-ton single-shot Arburg Allrounder in October, bringing its total to 24 presses. That includes four Allrounders and five Arburg two-shot machines.

    In June, the company acquired two Branson Ultrasonics welders and a large Printex pad-printing machine.

    Merrill's Packaging gets Costa Rica site

    Merrill's Packaging Inc. has established a plant in Costa Rica to meet the requirements of major medical-device customers.

    The company also is contemplating adding a second U.S. site, in the Midwest or Northeast, in 2012.

    Merrill's Packaging srl, in Alajuela, Costa Rica, is a 10,000-square-foot facility that includes a 3,000-square-foot Class 100,000 clean room. The plant, located in the free-trade-zone Zona Franca Coyol business park, opened in July 2011. The clean room became ISO 9001:2008 certified in November.

    Sales for Merrill's headquarters site in Burlingame, Calif., were on track to grow 20 percent in 2011 vs. the year before, according to sales contact Brian Meltzner. He did not disclose sales figures. The medical market accounts for more than 80 percent of product volume at the California plant — mainly thermoformed packaging.

    In 2007, Merrill's began a diversification program that included injection stretch blow molding. That equipment, most of it from Husky Injection Molding Systems Ltd., blow molds PET wine bottles with barrier additives and accounts for more than 5 percent of Merrill's business.

    Tech Group boosts clean room space

    Tech Group Inc. is installing an expandable clean room for medical-device assembly and adding liquid silicone rubber molding capability at its Phoenix facility.

    The Class 100,000 clean room will begin operating in February in an initial 3,500 square feet, with the potential to grow to a total of 6,000 square feet, said Tom Podesta, vice president of health-care sales and marketing. The facility already has a 15,000-square-foot Class 100,000 clean room for injection molding.

    Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Tech Group moved warehousing from the Phoenix plant to nearby leased space, and revamped the vacated area for the new clean room. The plant will get its first LSR cell in the first quarter of 2012. That cell, which includes a 110-ton injection molding machine, is being transferred from its current location in the Williamsport, Pa., consumer products plant of West Pharmaceutical Services Inc.

    In 2005, Lionville, Pa.-based West acquired Tech Group, which is now part of West's pharmaceutical delivery systems segment.

    Pacific Plastics adds medical clean room

    Pacific Plastics & Engineering added another clean room that will accommodate a high-end electric injection press, which the firm plans to purchase.

    The medical-device contract manufacturer began using the 1,500-square-foot Class 10,000 clean room in December at its facility in Soquel, Calif. In combination with its two other Class 10,000 clean rooms, Pacific Plastics now has 4,600 square feet meeting the class's criteria.

    Pacific Plastics operates 20 injection molding machines of 28-230 tons, with medical work accounting for about 80 percent of its business.

    Diversified manufacturer Cretex Cos. Inc. of Elk River, Minn., acquired Pacific Plastics from founders Jack and Stephanie Harkness in May.

    Venta Medical JV targeting startups

    Startup businesses provide California injection molder and mold maker Delta Pacific Products Inc. and its joint venture, Venta Medical LLC, with about 40 percent of their sales.

    Venta Medical, a custom contract manufacturer of medical devices, is a joint venture of Union City-based Delta and medical-device OEM Venture Manufacturing Group Inc. of Santa Clara, Calif.

    The venture, announced in November 2010, was formed within Delta's Union City plant to provide turnkey services to early-stage entrepreneurial medical and life-sciences companies developing devices.

    By early 2011, about 1,500 square feet of Delta's 32,000-square-foot facility was remodeled as a Class 10,000 clean room. Delta acquired three Battenfeld presses — two 60-ton models and one 80-ton unit—and took two 75-ton presses out of service.

    Delta President Fred Betke said that as startups progress beyond incubator status, some continue to use certain services of Delta and Venta Medical, and, largely through word of mouth, other startup businesses emerge and take their places.

    T.O. Plastics buys PTi sheet extruder

    Thermoformer T.O. Plastics Inc. has added an extruder at its Clearwater, Minn., plant for in-line work.

    The machine, from Processing Technologies International LLC of Aurora, Ill., can extrude roll stock at a rate of 4,000 pounds per hour, said Mark Schlichtmann, director of custom sales and customer service.

    The new extruder became operational in June.

    The company has six extruders and a number of thermoforming lines in Clearwater concentrating on horticultural, industrial and automotive work. Proprietary horticultural products account for about 40 percent of the firm's business volume.

    Clearwater-based T.O. Plastics also has a plant in nearby Otsego, Minn., focusing on medical devices.

    T.O. Plastics is a manufacturing subsidiary of diversified Otter Tail Corp. of Fergus Falls, Minn.

    Mission partnership creates biomed sales

    Injection molder Mission Plastics Inc. of Ontario, Calif., benefits from “a great partnership” with biomedical laboratory instrument maker Beckman Coulter Inc., said Felix Rozuk, Mission's sales and marketing director.

    Mission manufactures plastic parts for Beckman Coulter's biomedical lab instruments in an 11,000-square-foot area of its Ontario plant dubbed the “Beckman room.”

    Mission's Ontario plant has a total of 163,000 square feet.

    “We received the program from [Beckman Coulter] in 2009 when they closed down their Fullerton [Calif.] manufacturing facility,” Rozuk said.

    “We absorbed it into our building, and it has helped us maintain modest growth during the bad economy.”

    Mission employs 225 people.

    The processor purchased portions of Beckman Coulter's Fullerton plant molding equipment, jigs and fixtures, and took possession of more than 350 molds and responsibility for more than 500 stock-keeping units and some subassemblies.

    “We managed to get a majority of the parts validated within one year,” Rozuk said, crediting program manager Gerardo Medrano.

    Global instrument and technology firm Danaher Corp. of Washington acquired Brea, Calif.-based Beckman Coulter on June 30.

    RECOMMENDED FOR YOU
    Pregis to close Kentucky sheet foam plant, blames lack of material
    Letter
    to the
    Editor

    Do you have an opinion about this story? Do you have some thoughts you'd like to share with our readers? Plastics News would love to hear from you. Email your letter to Editor at [email protected]

    Most Popular
    1
    Private equity buyer HIG outbids rivals for Avient's distribution unit
    2
    Obituary: Auxiliary equipment patent holder Charles Thiele
    3
    California lawmakers kill plan to cut plastic packaging in online shopping
    4
    Auto supplier Gissing enters Chapter 11, owes Tesla $13.3M
    5
    PepsiCo cuts bottle design costs, time with 3D printed mold inserts
    SIGN UP FOR TO RECEIVE THESE EMAILS AND ENEWSLETTERS
    EMAIL ADDRESS

    Please enter a valid email address.

    Please enter your email address.

    Please verify captcha.

    Please select at least one newsletter to subscribe.

    Get our newsletters

    Staying current is easy with Plastics News delivered straight to your inbox, free of charge.

    Subscribe today

    Subscribe to Plastics News

    Subscribe now
    Connect with Us
    • LinkedIn
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Instagram

    Plastics News covers the business of the global plastics industry. We report news, gather data and deliver timely information that provides our readers with a competitive advantage.

    Contact Us

    1155 Gratiot Avenue
    Detroit MI 48207-2997

    Customer Service:
    877-320-1723

    Resources
    • About
    • Staff
    • Editorial Calendar
    • Media Kit
    • Data Store
    • Digital Edition
    • Custom Content
    • People
    • Contact
    • Careers
    • Sitemap
    Related Crain Publications
    • Sustainable Plastics
    • Rubber News
    • Urethanes Technology
    • European Rubber Journal
    • Tire Business
    Legal
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Privacy Request
    Copyright © 1996-2022. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    • News
      • Processor News
        • Injection Molding
        • Blow Molding
        • Film & Sheet
        • Pipe/Profile/Tubing
        • Rotomolding
        • Thermoforming
        • Recycling
      • Suppliers
        • Machinery
        • Materials
        • Molds/Tooling
        • Product news
        • Design
      • More News
        • Mergers & Acquisitions
        • Sustainability
        • Public Policy
        • Material Insights Videos
        • Numbers that Matter
      • Digital Edition
      • End Markets
        • Automotive
        • Packaging
        • Medical
        • Consumer Products
        • Construction
      • Special Reports
        • CEO Issue
        • Diversity
        • Best Places to Work
          • 2022 winners
        • Processor of the Year
        • Rising Stars
        • Women Breaking the Mold
          • 2022 class
      • Newsletters
      • Resin pricing news
      • Videos
    • Opinion
      • The Plastics Blog
      • Kickstart
      • One Good Resin
      • Pellets and Politics
      • All Things Data
      • Viewpoint
      • From Pillar to Post
      • Perspective
      • Mailbag
      • Fake Plastic Trees
    • Shop Floor
      • Blending
      • Compounding
      • Drying
      • Injection Molding
      • Purging
      • Robotics
      • Size Reduction
      • Structural Foam
      • Tooling
      • Training
    • Events
      • K Show Livestream
      • Plastics News Events
        • Plastics News Executive Forum
        • Injection Molding & Design Expo
        • Plastics News Caps & Closures
        • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum
        • Plastics in Automotive
      • Industry Events
      • Injection Molding & Design Expo
      • Livestreams/Webinars
        • PN Live: Mergers and Acquisitions
      • Editorial Livestreams
        • Polymer Points Live
        • Numbers that Matter Live
        • Plastics in Politics Live
        • Sustainable Plastics Live
      • Ask the Expert
      • Plastics News Events Library
        • Plastics Caps & Closures Library
        • Plastics in Healthcare Library
        • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum Library
      • Processor of the Year submissions
    • Resin Prices
      • All Resins
      • Commodity TPs
        • Historic Commodity Thermoplastics
      • High Temp TPs
        • Historic High Temp Thermoplastics
      • ETPs
        • Historic Engineering Thermoplastics
      • Thermosets
        • Historic Thermosets
      • Recycled Plastics
        • Historic Recycled Plastics
    • Rankings & Data
      • Injection Molders
      • Blow Molders
      • Film Sheet
      • Thermoformers
      • Pipe Profile Tubing
      • Rotomolders
      • Mold/Toolmakers
      • LSR Processors
      • Recyclers
      • Compounders - List
      • Association - List
      • Plastic Lumber - List
      • All
    • Directory
    • Custom
      • Sponsored Content
      • LS Mtron Sponsored Content
      • Conair Sponsored Content
      • KraussMaffei Sponsored Content
      • ENGEL Sponsored Content
      • White Papers
      • Classifieds
        • Place an Ad
        • Sign up for Early Classified