MTI Expo delivers medical plastics expertise once again

Plastics-based businesses are an increasing part of the annual MTI Expo show. This event takes place in Coventry on today and tomorrow (20 and 21 April)

Colin Martin, show founder and organiser commented: “We are very excited about this year’s event and have a busy time of preparation ahead. The key thing for the sector now is to get the April 20-21 dates into the diary and to make sure of your exhibition space.”

According to Martin: “Expo 2016 is the only UK medtech show this year. Demand is therefore expected to be high.”

Once again Expo will feature the Medilink National Awards (on the evening of April 20) together with a series of seminar events and a two day national conference for the industry.

Expo conference proceedings will be opened by Gary Stapleton of 3M and will see participation from leading lights such as Johnson & Johnson, MHRA, Defence Medical Directorate, Philips, Jellagen, Glyconics and others. Martin said: “It’s important for Expo to lead on the issues facing the sector and thanks to the expertise and recruiting power of the Medilink organisation we are very well stocked this year with expert opinion – right across the board.”

The finalists for Medilink’s awards are set to be announced shortly and the organisation has landed a coup by recruiting Dr Paul Sinha, writer, national broadcaster and veteran of the alternative comedy circuit.

Last year’s Expo was significant in for the levels of new business conducted there. Steve Gibson for example, sales director at cleanroom supplier, NGS, said: “We were extremely impressed at the professionalism of the event organisation and most importantly we were blown away by the quality of the visitors who attended our stand over the two days. Six months after the event, we have secured two large projects with companies we met there and we are at the advanced stages of negotiation with another contact made. We will definitely be exhibiting again in 2016.”

Plastics equipment supplier Wittmann Battenfeld UK made its Expo debut in 2015 and Barry Hill, managing director, is looking forward to good things again from the 2016 show.

Wittmann Battenfeld now has a range of pre-qualified med-tech injection moulding machines which were first showcased at the Fakuma plastics exhibition, Germany in October 2015.

Hill added: “We are looking forward to doing business with the medical moulding community at MTI Expo 2016. Too often, our customers can face a burden of testing and compliance issues regarding standards, cleanroom conditions and so forth. Our new equipment range is designed and manufactured to help the busy plastics processor by having all of that ready to go from ‘out of the box’. We are optimistic that the new machines will make an immediate impact – globally and here in the UK.”

The new machine designs are built around the company’s all-electric machines to clean room conditions. For this purpose, an ISO standard class 6 cleanroom from Max Petek Reinraumtechnik, Germany was installed at the Wittmann Battenfeld plant in Kottingbrunn and the machine was thoroughly examined there.

When developing the company’s moulding machines for cleanroom applications, attention was paid to optimising the interior mould space, which comes equipped with smooth surfaces, stainless steel covers and covered guide rails. The exhaust air conduits of the pneumatic valves are bundled and guided out of the cleanroom.

The machine as a whole has also been provided with a water cooling system with a closed cooling circuit, special alcohol- and solvent-resistant paint, nickel-coated clamping plates with covered threaded drillings and a laminar flow box, which supplies air with low particle content to the interior mould space.

MTI Expo 2016 has been courting the growing and successful plastics processing industry in Ireland with magazine coverage of the biennial Med In Ireland event.

A number of leading Irish moulders, such as Automatic Plastics, have committed to the show and this year sees the debut of Sligo based toolmaker Avenue Mould.

Led by managing director, Felim McNeela, Avenue is no stranger to companies in the UK plastics industry. It has a longstanding reputation in the sector and has scooped honours and accolades at the annual Plastics Industry Awards.

Avenue joins a growing cohort of Irish based suppliers at MTI Expo including Elite Electronics Systems, based in Enniskillen.  Shaun McBride, managing director at Elite said: ‘I’ve attended this event every year and it is becoming bigger and better every year. For anyone that wants to be in the medtech arena in the UK and Ireland, I would say that Med-Tech Innovation is the one for them.’

Leading medtech injection moulder Boddingtons, based near Tonbridge, Kent, is typical of the contract moulder that is thriving as a result of med-tech business. The company returns to MTI Expo with increased medtech turnover, yet another Plastics Industry Award and with high expectations for further enquiries and orders.

Andy Tibbs, managing director, said: “Boddingtons had a fantastic experience at Expo 2015 last year. We attracted a very significant batch of interesting and solid enquiries, many of which entered into our gated product introduction process. The net result in was an increased in new business that is now a healthy part of our overall company growth.

Tibbs added: “Successful manufacturers today not only need to make a great product. Increasingly they need to master the arts of marketing – to see and be seen – and to clearly communicate services, strengths and benefits to target markets. Boddingtons is walking this talk as part of our ambitious growth trajectory. Expo 2016 will play an important part in helping us achieve our aims and our sales targets.’

The past six years at Boddingtons have seen quantum leaps in growth. Company turnover has been trebled - from £5m in 2010 to £15m at the beginning of this year. Growth of 7% is forecasted for this year; and the management group is confident of meeting a £28m turnover target by the end of 2020.

The company’s growing and award-winning reputation for medical and healthcare moulding is helping fuel the expansion. This in turn has meant niche roles and recruitment – particular for specialists in financial, regulatory and quality support.

Tibbs reflects on the recent period: ‘We have succeeded in attaining a new reputation in medtech and technical moulding. Most people realise that medtech business generally provides opportunity for better margins. The real benefit however, is that once established, medtech provides a much more stable and sustainable future.”

So what are the secrets in winning that medtech business? “Open-mindedness is key,’ said Tibbs. “No company is too small or too big for us to do business with. Right from the outset we made a point of working with start-ups who specifically demonstrated both drive, initiative and strong intellectual property.”

A number of these start-ups are now beginning to produce significant sales. This includes Arc Medical, on behalf of whom Boddingtons won the Industrial Product Design of the Year Plastics Industry Award.

Boddingtons also makes it easier for clients by invariably handling legal responsibilities for the products it makes. “We do this for a variety of reasons,” said Tibbs. “And it also sharpens up our own business and manufacturing practices to a very competitive level.” 

One physical manifestation of this growth can now be seen in building work at the Marden-based site. Plans were set in motion last year to double the size of the company’s production by building an additional facility at the rear of the current plant. Planning permission was gained in in Q1 2015 and building work commenced in Q2 2015. It is expected that the new building will be operational in stages, beginning at the end of Q2 2016.

An approved investment of £4.6million has been earmarked to cover the new fit-out and additional capacity. Within the new Boddingtons facility, 50% of the space will be cleanroom manufacturing. This will provide two facilities close to each other, which offers ‘risk mitigation’ for Boddingtons customers. The additional building will, other than the cleanroom, be a large whiteroom manufacturing facility, along with a specialised assembly area.

Tibbs said: “Successful manufacturers today not only need to make a great product. Increasingly they need to master the arts of marketing – to see and be seen – and to clearly communicate services, strengths and benefits to target markets. Boddingtons is walking this walk as part of its ambitious growth trajectory. Expo 2016 will play an important part in helping us achieve our aims and our sales targets.’

Martin said: “We are delighted to have a key player such as Boddingtons showing its wares at MTI Expo once more. The company realises that our exhibition provides unique, networking, contact and opportunities for suppliers to the medtech and healthcare industries.”

The MTI Expo 2015 event saw a clear increase in the number of plastics companies exhibiting. EXPO 2016 will see a further leap in their numbers.

The fledgling Make It In Plastics network fielded a ‘village’ of ten companies at the show in 2015 and is returning this year, hoping to increase their number. MIIP director Adrian Lunney said: “MTI Expo 2016 is a classic opportunity for MIIP and for all SME plastics processors to get involved in marketing to this high value-added sector.”

Martin added: “MTI EXPO 2016 is also seeing more businesses catering to a trend in global healthcare towards product innovation and self-medication devices. Plastics-based designs and products have automatically been to the fore. This has meant opportunity and expansion for those manufacturers that have been able to rise to the challenge.

“MTI Expo 2016 therefore encourages all in the plastics sector to come and enjoy all the various facets of our two day show.”