German medical packaging manufacturer Gerresheimer AG is expanding its small-series production at its Peachtree City, Ga., plant.
The company announced in January it would expand small-batch production with a new 15,600-square-foot building and expanded clean room space at locations in Wackersdorf and Pfreimd, Germany.
The new production at the Peachtree City plant will include development samples, clinical samples and small-series production "in every project phase," a March 18 news release said.
Setup for small-series production began in 2020 at Gerresheimer's Technical Competence Center with the conversion of an existing building and setup of an ISO Class 8 clean room.
The company began small-series production at the Peachtree City facility in 2021.
"During the development and approval of pharmaceutical products and medical devices, this kind of small series is regularly needed for clinical samples or stability batches," it said. "Prior to series production, pharmaceutical products and medical devices run through an exhaustive approval process for which small numbers of units need to be produced repeatedly, for examples, as clinical samples, development samples or stability batches."
Besides providing small volumes of product, small-series production also allows the company to optimize production processes, the release said.
"The equipment in small series production adapts to the project," Manfred Baumann, global executive vice president of sales and marketing at Gerresheimer, said in the release. "We are currently producing an innovative product for ophthalmology, an innovative point-of-care test system and a combination product in accordance with the FDA definition."
Based on its existing projects, the equipment in small-series production currently includes an injection molding machine with a clamping force of 120 tons that connects with handling systems and parts conveyors, Gerresheimer said in the release.
Project-specific assembly and packaging units such as granulation, fill and seal plants and manual assembly stations, including ultrasonic welding systems, are also available.
The new production also has a measurement laboratory with product-specific testing equipment with optical and tactile measuring machines and other testing equipment.