This was ENGEL med.con 2010

What are the current trends in medical technology? How can intelligent cleanroom logistics make quality into a decisive competitive factor, and which innovative injection moulding solutions can help this happen? These were the focal questions at the ENGEL medical conference, med.con 2010, March 17 and 18 in Schwertberg. More than 500 visitors from famous-name medical corporations from all over Europe took this opportunity to discuss the medical technology challenges of the future.

The ENGEL med.con 2010 program included both a versatile mix of interesting keynotes and exciting discussions and a show featuring exhibits from the ENGEL medical product range at the Schwertberg Technology Centre. In cooperation with project partners from the mould-making, automation and cleanroom sectors, five intelligent injection moulding solutions were exhibited under the banner of "Clean, Precise, Efficient".

Logistics and quality
Keynotes on special-interest medical technology subjects, held by DI Christoph Lhota, Head of medical Division ENGEL, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Thomas Seul from the Technical University of Schmalkalden and ENGEL's Head of Development DI Dr. Georg Steinbichler, gave the audience an overview of the current state of art. In addition to this, well-known experts took part in a panel discussion on the topic of "Quality as a Competitive Factor – A Question of Cleanroom Logistics". Moderated in German by Susanne Zinckgraf from Plastverarbeiter and MedPlast, and in English by David Eldridge from PRW, the discussion panel featured:

• Prof. Gernod Dittel, CEO, Dittel Cleanroom Engineering
• Dr. Ing. Oliver Pfannschmidt, Head of Technical Departement, Balda Medical
• Joachim Köbelin, Technical Sales and Distribution, Zahoransky-Köbelin
• Christian Boos Head of Engineering, Waldorf Technik
• DI Detlev Schmidt, Head of Sales Eastern Europe, Motan-Colortronic
• DI Christoph Lhota, Head of Business Unit medical, ENGEL Austria

The participants all came to the conclusion that, although medical technology is a highly regulated field, and technology is at a premium level, human beings are the main factor in achieving clean quality. On top of this, they felt that it was important to look around and identify potential in other industries such as teletronics or automotive.

The Exhibits
A tie-bar-less ENGEL victory 330 H/80 W/130 combi produced the Perifix® 2-component catheter coupling by B.Braunte on a mould by Raumedic. As the machine has a minimum of individual parts, it offers a huge amount of space for large moulds and best-of-class cleaning.

An ENGEL e-victory 80/50 LIM produced hoses for peristaltic pumps made of liquid silicon with long and thin cores to maximum precision, with fully automatic operations, and without needing post-processing. Thanks to the intelligent ENGEL ecodrive servohydraulics, the machine is highly energy-saving; at the same time guide encapsulation ensures maximum product protection. Project partner: Rico Elastomere Projecting GmbH

An ENGEL e-motion 310/100 T produced PP pipette tips on a fully integrated and fully electronic line that can inject, camera check and deposit the parts on racks sorted by cavity in just 6 seconds. Project partner: Tanner Formenbau AG and Waldorf Technik GmbH & Co. KG

An ENGEL e-motion 740/180 T demonstrated the production of an innovative thin-walled syringe barrel - fully electric and highly precise. Project partner: Schöttli AGand Max Petek Reinraumtechnik.

A fully electric ENGEL e-max 200/75 produced needle holders for safety syringes. The benefits: high performance on a minimal footprint. Project partner: Fostag Formenbau AG

In addition to this, the ENGEL cleanroom featured an ENGEL e-motion 200/55 with an integrated six-axis robot performing a dry cycle. The ENGEL e-motion medical series combines best-of-class performance and cleanliness. Optimised for clean room applications, the machine has an encapsulated barrel to minimize particle and heat emissions, along with encapsulated injection unit drives and an oil return unit on the toggle lever as standard features.

"The key to success in medical technology is cooperation in a spirit of partnership", said DI Christoph Lhota. "ENGEL lives this principle in a very successful way. 15 cooperation partners from the fields of mould-making, automation and cleanroom technology demonstrated their know-how against the backdrop of the partner fair, and more than 500 industry stakeholders took this opportunity to network with colleagues from the industry. This once again proves that ENGEL is on the right track with respect to medical technology."