Nothing comes close to the golden coast: MD&M West preview

With only a week until Anaheim Convention Center opens its doors for MD&M West again, Medical Plastics News notes the areas of the show medical plastics manufacturers should not miss.

Described as “advancing manufacturing excellence through medical devices”, the show has over 1600 exhibiting medtech suppliers and is a show global medical manufacturers should attend.

To make the most of your three days there, I have done all the research you need to make sure you’re at the most relevant plastics launches, conference talks and showcases.

1. Medical Device Sterilisation

On Monday 5th February, the day before the show starts, there’s a six-hour workshop at Fundamentals of Medical Device Packaging on designing packaging for medical devices which covers Designing Sterile Barrier Systems, Materials Used for Sterile Barrier Packaging and several other sessions. The next day covers sterile packaging too but more on manufacturing than designing. Some of the sessions include Manufacturing Packaging for Sterile Medical Devices, Sterilisation of Medical Devices for Packaging Engineers and many more throughout the day.

If you feel like you’re too much of an expert to go to a workshop or that it’s too time consuming and would prefer to speak to someone, there are a number of exhibitors who specialise in sterilisation. STERIS, Steri-Tek, Nelson Labs and Vonco Products are just some of the globally known companies who will be exhibiting at the show. 

On 7th February at 2:30pm, STERIS will be doing a presentation on the Fundamentals of X-Ray Sterilisation at the Tech Theatre. The presentation will compare gamma to X-ray, showcase the benefits of adding X-ray sterilisation plans and outline why X-ray is a viable alternative to gamma processing.

2. Sustainable Plastics

Moving on from sterilisation, there is a two-hour conference about sustainability and sterilisation trends from 3-5pm on Monday 5th February. The talk consists of four experts talking about the impact on sustainability and sterilisation trends on material selection for medical devices, driving towards net zero and challenges and opportunities for recycling of medical plastics.

Sustainability is of course one of the biggest topics in the industry, but the main argument is if single-use items are more sustainable as it reduces the use of chemical cleaning or if multi-use items are more sustainable as it reduces the use of recycling or waste. One company that’s exhibiting, Trelleborg (Booth #2209) is a company that supplies single-use fluid path components and assemblies for the biopharma manufacturing industry. If you need assistance or advice on manufacturing single-use products that are sustainable, the experts on hand on Trelleborg’s stand can help. 

There are several talks and workshops throughout the event on sustainability, so make sure to check the schedules on the MD&M West website ahead of time to plan which works best for you and your business.

3. Material Choice

There are over 10 talks and workshops available spanning Monday-Wednesday that share insights on material choice. The first talk on Monday morning starts at 8am and has insights from expert materials companies such as DSM Biomedical and Accumold. The talks will cover Biodegradable TPUs for Tissue Repaid, Novel Bioresorbable Polymer Composites for Medical Device Applications and Microbial Susceptibility of Various Polymers and Evaluation of Thermoplastic Elastomers with Antimicrobial Additives.

The choice of polymer used can make or break the final design, so be sure to speak to an expert at the show! Element Materials Technology is a global materials company which provides a wide range of materials and product qualification testing, consulting and certification services. The company can support manufactures throughout their product life cycle, so make sure to step by the booth (#1368) to ask for any advice on what works for you.

So far, there are 18 exhibitors at MD&M West that specialise in plastic materials, including a number of global brands such as Covestro, Borealis Compounds and Polymer Science.

4. Packaging

There are many packaging companies throughout the entire show – not just at MD&M, including big names such as Nelipak, Kraiburg TPE, Prent and Jamestown Plastics. Medical Plastics News has spoken to experts from Jamestown Plastics in the past, the company can help with everything from blister packaging, sealers, die cutting to thermoforming. You can visit Jamestown Plastics on their booth in WestPack (#5120).

From 8am on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday there are workshops available on medical device packaging. As previously stated, there is the workshop on sterile medical device packaging on the Monday session until 5:30pm. The sessions on the Tuesday include converting and sealing pouches, sealing trays and forming trays, while the Wednesday covers testing, quality and regulations. Speaking of regulations, in the next issue of the magazine there is a Regulatory Update feature including a piece from Emerson, who will also be exhibiting at MD&M West (booth #3213).

5. Smart Manufacturing

It’s no secret that this is taking the healthcare by storm. Whether it’s in the form of robotics or digital technology, smart manufacturing is constantly evolving. 

There are a few robotics companies at MD&M West, however there are a lot of global names that are part of the ATX West show, for example in terms of robotics and automation, there are EPSON Robots, Kawasaki Robotics and FANUC. To read more about robotics and automation.

Throughout the four days, there are workshops and talks on AI and smart manufacturing. On Monday from 1-5pm, there is a workshop that covers the competitive need for smart manufacturing, building blocks and taking the first stop into smart manufacturing; the CEO of the Industry 4.0 Club, Mike Yost will be a speaker during the session. 

With medical manufacturing in mind, on the Tuesday, there is a talk at Center Stage on using AI in injection moulding with Doug Espinoza, the director of RJG as a panellist.

This is only a small percentage of the categories relating to medical plastics manufacturing that will be covered at the show, to find out more about who is showcasing and what workshops and talks are on, please visit imengineeringwest.com.