US Extruders to launch full lineup of medical extruders at MD&M West

US Extruders Inc. now has a complete line of extruders designed specifically for the medical industry that it will be showing for the first time at MD&M West this month.

The company, a manufacturer of custom single-screw extruders in Westerly, R.I., introduced its first-generation Med-Ex extruder at the show last year.

This year, at Booth No. 1084, US Extruders will show the second-generation model: Med-Ex Elite, which features stainless steel surfaces for easy wipe down, swappable barrels in 1/2-inch to 1-inch sizes, clean wire management, powered adjustment for head alignment and virtual pressure measurement.

The Med-Ex Elite joins three other models in the series: Med-Ex Flex, featuring swappable barrels up to 1 1/4 inches, clean wire management and a precision servo motor; Med-Ex Classic, which can be designed for air- or water-cooled applications; and Med-Ex Compact, a slim design for medical coextrusion applications with a gearless direct drive.

The Med-Ex Compact will be on display at Novatec Inc.'s booth, No. 4115.

"We really see medical as a growing business segment," Stephen Montalto, director of sales at US Extruders, said in a phone interview.

Now with four different machine options within the medical extruder line, it gives end users more versatility, Montalto said, especially for clean room and pharmaceutical applications. But the lineup really covers the full "spectrum of all medical extrusion applications," he said.

"Our goal is always to deliver what the customer needs and wants — not what we want to build," Montalto explained. "We feel that we've done that with this line, giving the customer what they want and need."

While US Extruders hasn't yet determined a specific number of medical extruders it hopes to sell in 2020, Montalto said the MD&M show could garner extra interest, with leads from the show developing into actual orders.

"We are an engineering company. We will, really, build what the customer wants," he said. "We will modify or redesign different machines to fit the application. We're not trying to fit the proverbial square peg in a round hole. We want to make sure we're supplying what the customer wants and needs."

MD&M West, considered the world's largest medical design and manufacturing event, is scheduled for Feb. 11-13 in Anaheim, Calif.