Dish of the day

Plastic articles for the medical industry place the highest demands on technological perfection. When dealing with inexpensive consumables, efficient production also becomes important. Netstal offers complete systems for the production of petri dishes and medical products

Petri dishes are used to cultivate microorganisms or cells under laboratory conditions. Until a few years ago they were made of glass. Today's petri dishes, made with polystyrene (PS), have to meet the same requirements: They must be dimensionally stable, transparent and absolutely flat to ensure reliable results of analyses. Increasingly, large quantities are needed as more people worldwide have access to medical care.

While the medical market grows, manufacturers of petri dishes are facing increasing cost pressure from health insurers, resulting in shrinking margins. Their attention focuses more and more on optimising production with short cycle times and high availability as well as resource and material-saving production systems. Netstal's medical technology division has specialised in such systems.

For example, anybody who wants to produce 50 million petri dishes per year can turn to the Swiss machine manufacturer with that request. Netstal will configure a complete production cell, including injection moulding as well as a removal, assembly and packaging system. For 50 million parts, for example, a fully electric Elion 3200 machine with an 8+8 cavity mould would be suitable. All components are coordinated perfectly in such a system. It delivers a result that is better in all aspects than a combination of various components by the user.

In medical technology operation in conditions that are as clean as possible is vital. Multiple options are available for cleanroom production (up to class ISO 5). The Med-Kit contains covers for hoses and niches as well as especially smooth surfaces to facilitate cleaning. For solutions outside of the cleanroom, laminar flow units are used above the machine and automation. With a continuous, low-turbulence stream of air, they reduce the amount of particles clinging to the products. 

The individual components needed for the production cell are provided by permanent longstanding partners. Once the petri dishes have been produced in a cycle of about four seconds, they are  removed through a free fall with a 2+2x-mould or from the side with the help of a removal module. In the subsequent assembly module, the lids are set onto the bottoms. They can then be stacked or taken to quality control. According to the customer's wishes, the stacks can, for example, be packaged in an endless tubular bag and then in cardboard boxes. They are now ready to be used by doctors, in hospitals or laboratories.

At the upcoming Fakuma 2014 in Friedrichshafen, Netstal will present the performance of its systems by using the example of an 8+8x complete system with a cycle time of less than 3.7 seconds. Any business that wants to begin operation of a similar production system should quickly consider Netstal. Based on the User Requirement Specifications (URS), a customer receives a comprehensive offer. Netstal, as independent contractor, offers a range of options and equipment packages, with the aim of designing the perfect production cell with the customer.

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