(6th September 2021, Ankeny, IA,USA) Having just returned from a successful MD&M West show in Anaheim, CA, USA, leading micro molding innovator Accumold is finishing off the year with attendance at an array of shows in the United States and Europe. Starting with the EPHJ event 14-17 September in Geneva, Switzerland, the company will also be at the Boston BIOMEDevice show 21-22 September; the Sensors Expo, San Jose, CA, USA 21-23 September; the Med-Tech Innovation Expo 28-29 September, Birmingham, UK; MedTech Ireland 20-21 October, Galway, Ireland; MD&M Minneapolis 3-4 November; Compamed, 15-18 November, Dusseldorf, Germany; MD&M New York 7-9 December; and San Jose BIOMEDevice 7-9 December.
Aaron Johnson, VP Marketing and Customer Strategy says, “This will a busy schedule for Accumold as we move towards the back end of 2021, COVID allowing. As a company, Accumold typically exhibits at an array of events across the globe, as we find that it is when face-to-face with customers that we can best explain what we do, and above all showcase the precision and micro parts and components that we can fabricate. There really is no substitute for seeing what can be achieved through micro molding, and as a pioneer of the art, we open up possibilities for manufacturers that until meeting us they may not perceive as possible.”
The emphasis on Accumold’s event attendance is heavily skewed toward the medical sector over the next few months, an important market for micro molding, and a sector that is also constantly pushing the envelope when it comes to innovation, be it in miniaturization, geometric complexity, or materials.
Johnson continues, “Accumold has decades of experience working with medical device OEMs, and providing them with extremely accurate, often tiny, and usually safety critical parts and components. Micro molding for the medical device sector is often not straightforward. In the area of material usage, for example, micro medical devices often require the integration of different materials, such as thermoplastics, biocompatible metals, and silicones. Micro manufacturing solutions often lean towards the use of complex secondary assemblies and overmolding techniques, all of which require an innate understanding of the processes — especially a knowledge of the bonding and compatibility of different materials — and the use of state-of-the-art manufacturing technologies.”
“For any medical device OEM seeking to work with such exacting technologies and procedures, it is vital that they locate and work with experienced micro molders that are aware of, work with, and are experienced in trouble-shooting the implications of tool design, material choice, and the numerous processing complexities that exist in the area of micro molding. It is vital that micro molders are truly vertically integrated like Accumold, and have a laser-like focus on the unique problems and opportunities when trying to design for micro molding (DfMM).”
Accumold emphasis that key to success is that medical device OEMs do not just view their chosen micro molder as a job shop, but rather that they partner with the molder at the earliest possible point in the design-to-market process in order to avoid costly mistakes, and requirements for multiple iterations of product design and even tooling as solutions to micro molding problems are sought. Micro medical plastic product manufacture requires that the relationship between OEM and micro molding specialist is a true partnership, but often run differently from a traditional OEM/supplier relationship.
Johnson concludes, “In micro manufacturing, most of the mission critical issues occur at the design and prototyping stage of product development. This can and often does include material choice and even packaging considerations. A true partnership will ensure faster time-to-market with more efficient and lower cost products. We invite all attendees at the various shows we will be exhibiting at to come along to see us, assess what is possible, and discuss how we can become an integral part of their product development processes.”
