Medical Device Company Turns to PMF Adhesives

Situation

When a large company, such as a defense contractor, acquires a small manufacturing contractor, they inherit the manufacturer’s processes – for example, in-house mixing of adhesive systems.

The small manufacturer may not have good procedures in place for mixing adhesive systems or testing protocols to determine performance characteristics.

A medical device company faced such a challenge. After acquiring a smaller contractor, the medical device manufacturer learned that the contractor had been mixing five adhesive formulations in-house using up to six ingredients for each formulation. The precise blending of these ingredients was critical to the proper functioning of the medical device.

Solution

The company called on Appli-Tec to perform the following:

• Mix the ingredients to the proper mix ratio
• Test each formulation for:
  • Pot life
  • Viscosity
  • Hardness
  • Glass transition temperature (Tg)
  • Heat of reaction
  • Lap shear strength
• Degas, freeze and ship the products

Appli-Tec also set the upper and lower control points on each test, which gave the medical device manufacturer assurance that the precision-mixed, degassed, and frozen formulations being shipped were fully tested and met exacting specifications.

Results

Appli-Tec now manufactures and ships the company’s PMF products – allowing the manufacturer to eliminate in-house mixing and potential product failure.

Meticulously processed to exact specifications, Appli-Tec’s precision mixed and frozen (PMF) adhesives guarantee consistent results. Rigorous testing ensures every batch of material performs the same.

When ready to use, customers simply remove a syringe from the freezer, wait 10 – 30 minutes (depending on syringe size) for the syringe to thaw, then use. The material is as good as if it were mixed minutes prior.

The CEO of Appli-Tec, Tim has over 30 years of experience in the pre-mixed and frozen (PMF) adhesives industry.

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