Flexan opens new HQ for for silicone components

Contract manufacturer Flexan has opened its new company headquarters for the manufacturing of silicone parts for medical devices.

The headquarters are based close to the former production site in Chicago and its increased surface area means the company can now produce four times the number of components for class 2 and 3 medical devices.

The new company headquarters features extrusion processes that will be applied to the manufacturing process. The extruders feature a proprietary design to help facilitate access to the silicone feed section and clean and adjust the scraper blades.

Silicone rubber is commonly used in medical implants such as defibrillators and heart pumps. Implants must not contain any contaminations because of potential risks to the patient. This means there are stringent requirements in place to minimise the particle content of these products.

To satisfy these requirements and as a response to the increasing demand for components with high standards of cleanliness, Flexan has constructed class 7 clean-room production facilities at its new headquarters.

Werner Karau, european commercial leader at Flexan, said: “Silicone rubber is suitable for medical devices thanks to its electrical insulation properties, its flexibility and durability as well as its high thermal resistance, among other things. As it is our intention to add extrusion to our portfolio, these new facilities were initially equipped with three production lines.”

“We can use these installations for highly diverse processes, e.g. micro-lumen or multi-layer extrusion. This ensures FMI’s manufacturing capacities are extremely flexible.” Karau continued.