Helping companies work with liquid silicone is an important part what Albright Technologies Inc. does, and now it has added a 14-ton Arburg press to boost prototype and low-volume production.
Ryan Taylor, Albright's director of sales and marketing, said the Arburg All-Rounder 175-V press can be used for micro parts such as medical gaskets, end seals, parts for ocular surgery and even food packaging.
It complements the two other molding machines — a 50-ton Boy and a 60-ton Engel — that the Leominster, Mass.-based company uses.
“We are doing a lot more injection molding, but for the longest time we did prototypes only,” Taylor said.
He said Albright has been involved with liquid silicone for about 20 years, and made a transition to offer only LSR molding in 2005.
Taylor said customers are looking for more services, and that's why Albright is boosting its molding. It also cuts down on turnaround time, so that customers get what they want quicker.
The company still maintains its research and development focus and Taylor said Albright helps clients develop products and select the right material.
Taylor noted that Albright is seeing more ways to use LSR and that there is a strong market in medical durables — products that record pulse or cardiac rhythm — using sensors that are encrypted in silicone.
Albright has 17 employees working at its 6,500-square-foot site. David Comeau, who had retired in 2012, returned in March to lead the company.
Albright is ISO 13485 certified and does silicone components for the medical, aerospace, military, industrial and consumer applications.
