Smart Molding International 1-2021

48 smart_molding international 1/2021 molders O ffering deep competencies in complex tooling, molding, and equipment solutions, contract manufacturing partner MGS is playing a critical role in supporting significant increases in demand for test kits and ventilators that are essential to re - opening the American economy. Moving quickly and efficiently to launch production, MGS’ vertical in - tegration across mold building, clean - room molding, multi-shot equipment, robotics, and more has uniquely po - sitioned it to successfully scale up production of critical plastic compo - nents. Helping America meet the first, critical objective of supplying millions of COVID-19 tests, MGS is playing an integral role in the manufacturing of plastic consumable parts, scaling initial production nearly thirty-fold to rapidly supply components. Through its exper - tise in high-cavitation mold design and builds for challenging, tight-tolerance parts, as well as in multi-shot injection molding, MGS is serving a critical role in meeting nationwide demand for ef - fective testing. “Testing is a key factor in determin - ing if communities can safely reopen their economies. In Wisconsin alone, the goal is to conduct 85,000 tests per week on an ongoing basis, with tests needed for tens of millions across the country every month,” said Paul Manley, president of MGS. “The so - phisticated tooling and cleanroom ca - pabilities at our Healthcare Center of Excellence in Germantown are instru - mental in helping major medical OEMs accelerate production while de-risking the manufacturing process. But noth - ing has been more important than the passion of the MGS team in their re - lentless pursuit of this goal.” MGS also quickly pivoted to supply critical components to support produc - tion of approximately 30,000 ventila - tors in partnership with Ventec and GM. Scaling production to meet the rapid increase in demand, MGS was tasked with transferring a machined plastic valve – eight of which are need - ed for each ventilator – to an injection molding process that would produce parts in seconds, rather than the min - utes needed for the original process. With decades of experience in mold building for companies in healthcare and pharmaceutical industries, MGS engineered, built, and launched a tool in only eight days – demolishing what would traditionally be an eight- to ten- week timeline. “The collaboration and cooperation across our customer, supply chain, and internal teams – including engineering, estimating, scheduling, supply chain management, sampling andmetrology, and our production teams – was the key to ensuring we met our timeline with quality, assembly ready parts,” said Manley. “I am blown away by the commitment of each member of our team, working round-the-clock and on weekends to help us succeed.” MGS www.mgsmfg.com Healthcare OEMs turn to MGS to deliver test kit and ventilator parts against accelerated timelines. Scaling production of complex medical parts As a proven single-source of manufac - turing expertise and accountability – in tooling, molding, and equipment technology – MGS knows how to deliver custom, integrated solutions that drive business performance and growth. MGS controls more of the supply chain in-house, minimizing risk, maximizing resources and de - livering better performance at every phase of every job. MGS has 1,300 employees at six manufacturing fa - cilities around the world that help customers improve performance, productivity and ROI. The company’s Healthcare Center of Excellence is lo - cated at its Germantown, WI head - quarters. Picture: MGS