Mathias Andersson

Towards the end of March, world-leading supplier of advanced ventilators for intensive care units Getinge asked us to increase production of vital ventilator components. Humbled by the gravity and scale of the challenge Getinge is currently facing and honored to be entrusted with helping them supply much needed life-support equipment to hard-pressed intensive care units and patients in desperate need of respiratory care, we rolled up our sleeves and got to work straight away.

Helping leading ventilator supplier Getinge meet the soaring demand for their life-support equipment

Our highly automated production plant in Skara, Sweden, with its 3,300 m² of injection-molding machines, time-saving robots and clean-room manufacturing facilities, has been designed to meet the global demand for life-support equipment and other essential components for the medical and healthcare industries.

Over the past 60 years, Elos Medtech has been supplying a wide range of technically advanced medical technology products and components to some of the biggest companies in the healthcare industry. Among them, leading global supplier of advanced ventilators for intensive care units, Getinge, with whom we have worked closely for more than 20 years. So when they asked us to increase production of several ventilation components in order to help them meet the overwhelming global demand for ventilators, naturally we rolled up our sleeves and got to work.

Teamwork and efficiency are crucial in times of crisis

As demand continued to increase, we called upon our manufacturing sites in Gørløse, Denmark and Timmersdala, Sweden for additional support. Unsurprisingly, they too were just as eager to help Getinge with their momentous task.

Our recent measures to streamline all aspects of production, packaging and logistics processes at several of our manufacturing facilities have also played a major part in enabling us to respond successfully to Getinge’s urgent needs. Processes that we hope will now help Getinge supply their life-sustaining equipment even faster to hard-pressed intensive care units and patients in desperate need of respiratory care.

Maintaining precision and safety is essential when producing life-sustaining equipment

The high-performance thermoplastic components we injection mold at our production site in Skara are used in some of the most demanding medical areas, such as life support, neurosurgery, cardiovascular surgery and diagnostics. Made from PVDF, ETFE, ECTFE, PEEK, PES, PPS and PPSU as well as polyolefins PS and ABS, these carefully designed components are injection molded to ensure extreme accuracy and maximum uniformity.

Maintaining precision and safety is essential when manufacturing equipment for the healthcare industry, particularly when it comes to equipment for patients in need of intensive care treatment. And thanks to our expertise and experience in the industry, we are able to meet the strictest criteria when it comes to preventing sudden increases in production from affecting the accuracy or safety of these much-needed components.

Contributing to global efforts by producing large volumes of ventilation tubes and respirator valves

The components we are currently manufacturing as part of the global efforts to reduce the shortage of critical healthcare and medical supplies include:

Ventilation tubes and gas blenders/mixing chambers (inspiratory flow)
This is one of the larger components we produce in Skara. There is a ventilation tube in each ventilator, and it is a permanent, non-disposable component. The ventilation gases are prepared and mixed in the ventilation tube, which assists the patient with their breathing, ensuring optimum ventilation performance and patient comfort.

Respirator valves
Our disposable respirator valves undergo rigorous testing rounds and are highly sophisticated polypropylene components. Fitted with a fine mesh membrane, each respirator or ventilation valve has a built-in feedback system for maintaining the correct oxygen supply. This system enables healthcare workers to achieve the intended volume and respiratory frequency for that specific patient with complete accuracy.

Proud to be working alongside Getinge in the fight against covid-19

As I said at the start of this article, we are humbled and honored to be contributing to the fight against covid-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) alongside one of the world’s largest manufacturers of these much-needed life-supporting ventilators. Our long-standing, close working relationship with Getinge laid the foundations that is enabling us to quickly mobilize our production sites and help them overcome the equipment shortage faced by so many healthcare units during this critical time.

If you have any questions about our ventilator components or our work with Getinge to overcome the global ventilator shortage, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. Or if you would like to find out more about safety and quality at Elos Medtech, you might be interested in reading this article by Anders Björklund, Director of Quality & Regulatory at Elos Medtech.

The display of good knowledge and experience in technically demanding plastics over the years has aroused curiosity among our customers. We can now see an increased demand for injection-moulded plastic components. To meet the demand we have developed a joint plan together with our customers, to increase cooperation in the years ahead – starting with an expanded production plant in Skara, Sweden.

Expanding our plant for production of injection-moulded plastic components

We will be expanding our production plant in Skara, Sweden by 1,500 square metres. Last year, we invested in Clean room for assembly, packaging and production in a Clean room environment. The production is automated and the operation is ISO 13485 certified.

In the technology development area, we work with everything from proposals for total technical solutions, including design of moulding tools, choice of material, design of components and production equipment, to the adaptation of a product to a customer’s production and equipment.

We frequently become involved at an early stage of a customer’s project, playing an important part as a technical resource. Starting from a detailed drawing or a model, we produce any drawings required, as well as other documentation for the design and production of moulding tools.

From design and technical development to assembly of injection-moulded plastic parts

Many of our contracts include assembly as well as finishing. In our factory in Skara, Sweden, we carry out simple as well as more complicated tasks. We have a wide-ranging expertise in both the mechanical and the programming side of automation and great experience of building customised assembly equipment, ensuring that our finishing process is well planned and effective.

In our clean room area we carry out any assembly or finishing work of products that require specially adapted facilities. We also act as systems supplier to some of our customers. Such contracts include everything from injection moulding of thermoplastic parts, purchasing of additional components, assembly, final testing and packaging in customer-specific wrappings. In the final stage, we deliver the product to our customer’s customers, irrespective of where in the world they may be based.

100% focus on medical technology customers

Our investments in the extended production plant in Skara, Sweden has resulted in several major projects, which will constitute a key aspect of our company’s growth in the next coming years. When the plant is completed at the end of 2015, capacity will be doubled compared with the current situation. This will create a great platform to meet our customers increased demand for injection-moulded plastic components, as well as delivering excellent quality and precision. By focusing 100% on medical technology customers and based on our Complete Performance™, we will have a unique offering that enables us to provide turnkey solutions for our customers in the medical technology segment.

Learn more about why we call ourselves the Expert of thermoplastic components with fine tolerances and read about our 4 techniques for measuring injection-moulded plastic parts. Do you have any questions about our extended plant? Please contact us! Soon there will pop up another article here on our Medical Technology Blog, until then – see you on the social networks!

The instruments and products used in medical areas such as diagnostics and cardiac rhythm management usually contain small components with extreme tolerances. These require maximum precision and accuracy in dimensions and surface. In our factory in Skara, Sweden, we have the necessary expertise to produce advanced precision moulding tools and injection moulding plastic parts.

From injection moulding machinery to moulding tools and injection moulding

Since we first started in the 1970s, we have gained more than 40 years’ experience in the design and manufacture of moulding tools and in injection moulding. In the first few years, we concentrated on the manufacture of injection moulding machinery, but the operation gradually moved towards the production of moulding tools and then into injection moulding of plastic parts as well.

Over the years we have gained an in-depth understanding and specialist expertise in injection moulding, which we now use to meet the varying demands of our customers. Quality, expertise, flexibility and customisation are important keywords in our operation. These ensure that our customers benefit from substantial added-value during our cooperation.

Today we mainly work with products used in medicine and biotechnology such as diagnostics and cardiac rhythm management.

Specializing in small components requiring a very high level of precision

The advanced moulding tools and mouldings that we specialize in require a very high level of precision. The injection-moulded parts are primarily made from difficult-to-machine plastics for customers who demand very fine tolerances. These components can weigh as little as 0.01 grams!

Checks and measuring are crucial when designing and manufacturing small components. In order to avoid any defects or variations of the components, we use a CNC measuring machine with multi-sensor technology.

Technically-advanced machinery and in-house software development

By investing heavily in technically-advanced machinery and in-house software development, our operation meets the most stringent requirements on documentation management, traceability, quality and process management. This does, of course, apply equally in our tools manufacturing process and our injection moulding operation.

Would you like to know more about injection moulding of plastic parts? Maybe learn more of how our technically advanced machinery can serve your needs and demands? Contact us directly! And until next time, see you on our social networks!