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Whatever the products — mass-produced consumables or challenging functional components with complex geometry — ENGEL provides the sought-after solutions for medical technology and healthcare products, as witnessed recently the participants of the medical seminar in Bangkok. |
The seminar on medical technology, organized by ENGEL at the Plastics Institute of Thailand, gathered some fifty participants in Bangkok last December. The IMM manufacturer, joined by its partners Fostag and Hekuma, provided many examples from the practice of injection molding to give an insight into the opportunities and challenges of work in clean-room conditions. Moreover, ENGEL has introduced innovative solutions for both processing technology and machinery.
Aram Tongurai, Managing Director of the local company branch in Thailand, ENGEL Machinery (Thailand), explains: “The development of the medical technology and health care sectors in Thailand has been quite a dynamic one. This trend was in clear evidence throughout the whole event.” The contributors represented both top industry players and smaller local businesses that make their first moves to strengthen their position in the medical technology market.
Aram Tongurai identifies two major causes of the interest rise in the industry. First, these companies are trying to lessen their dependence on the Thai automotive, which is rather overriding. Then, medical care quality in South East Asia grows steadily, resulting in production growth and focus shift towards advanced manufacturing concepts.
From consumables to functional solutions
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The medical experts from ENGEL, Fostag and Hekuma: Joining the efforts in order to create benefit for their customers. |
Despite the non-uniform knowledge base of the participants, all of them were able to benefit from the presentations and the components on display. The most sophisticated applications introduced by Gerhard Geierlehner, Medical Sales Engineer at ENGEL, included the following ones. First, multicomponent production of drip chambers with integrated filters was demonstrated on a tiebar-less ENGEL e-victory combi machine with high degree of automation. Then, the participants were able to witness high-speed production of one-component interdental brushes with up to five hundred bristles on an all-electric ENGEL e-motion. The event also covered cost optimization of high-volume production of diagnostics components such as Petri dishes, as well as extremely efficient multicomponent solutions, implemented e.g. for the manufacture of toothbrushes.
The aforementioned examples confirmed that quality machinery coupled with custom-made solutions are vital in achieving maximum efficiency and minimum unit costs, on the one hand, and top quality and process reliability, on the other. Mr. Geierlehner to explain: “New entrants in the medical technology sector are actively looking for partners capable of delivering turnkey solutions from a single source, thereby guaranteeing a high degree of overall efficiency and safety. ENGEL is perceived as a technology leader in Thailand. It is precisely the fact that our business units have a 100% focus on one area of application that has become a strong trust factor for manufacturers, especially in the medical technology sector.” This is once more confirmed by the fact that ENGEL operates its own clean room in Schwertberg (Austria), dedicated to trial runs in collaboration with the company customers and to the development of new machine concepts.
Single-source clean room safety
From the ENGEL production sites in Austria, Korea and China, the company supplies both standalone IMMs and highly integrated tailored solutions. Such turnkey production cells are based on an IMM, enhanced with robotic equipment, totally developed and produced by ENGEL, custom automation solutions, molds, processing technologies, and extra peripherals. Dedicated materials also support the industry players’ efforts on meeting modern digitalization and networking challenges. Industry 4.0 concept is growing important in Asia as well, that is why Gerhard Geierlehner also talked about new opportunities linked to it. The inject 4.0 program developed by ENGEL allows for having one’s finger on the pulse of the trend: today, the company offers a wide range of ready-to-market products for any smart factory area.
In this view, the elevated recognition that ENGEL is gaining locally confirms once again its ability to provide system solutions. Speaking of the medical seminar, some participants initiated discussions on specific project proposals with ENGEL, Hekuma and Fostag experts while the event was still ongoing.
