RTP adds manufacturing, QA capabilities
By Brad Dawson
Rubber & Plastics News Staff
Thermoplastic material compounder
RTP Co. has upgraded its production capabilities with the addition of an “ultra
clean” compounding center and a quality assurance lab at its Winona, Minn.,
manufacturing facility.
The 3,300-sq.-ft., self-contained compounding center opened earlier this year
with two extrusion lines—single- and
twin-screw types—with the capacity for
four lines and the ability to produce
nearly any product in the company’s
portfolio, said Kirk Fratzke, RTP marketing communications manager. Thermoplastic elastomers make up about 10
percent of RTP’s sales, which in 2008
reached nearly $250 million.
The area also contains extruded
strand cooling, palletizing, classifying
and packaging stations, Fratzke said.
As of now, the center is not a classified clean room, but rather a controlled
manufacturing environment for clean
compounds. The stricter controls include
stabilized temperature and humidity, a
dedicated ventilation/air handling system and interlocks separating the room
from other production at the Winona
site, he said.
The space is ideal for materials needing to be free of any cross-contamination
from airborne particles or requiring additional manufacturing process data to
ensure specifications are met, Fratzke
said.
Typically, some medical and electronics devices used in clean environments
themselves have requirements utilizing
materials with very tight manufacturing specifications.
Applications requiring improved cleanliness also are quickly spreading to other industries where the cost of contamination in rejected parts is high, the
RTP Co.’s new “ultra-clean” compounding center includes two extrusion lines with
the capacity for two more. The area is capable of producing nearly any product in
the Winona, Minn.-based company’s portfolio, including its thermoplastic elas-
tomer materials.
company said.
The controlled facility was constructed such that a clean room designation
could be obtained if RTP’s customers require that process control, Fratzke said.
RTP has dealt with increasingly tight
manufacturing specifications for many
years, but the new center for the first
time gives the company full control over
the environment during the compounding process, from extrusion through
packaging, he said.
The 3,500-sq.-ft. QA lab provides expanded material testing capabilities to
meet the needs of RTP’s original equipment manufacturer customers who use
specialty compounds. The company has
added fully automated robotic mechani-
cal testing, TPE-specific mechanical
testing and specialized analytical test-
ing.
The in-house testing capabilities include infrared spectroscopy, ionic purity
analysis and Underwriter Laboratories-certified flame retardant testing,
Fratzke said. The QA lab can conduct
testing to ensure feedstocks and end
products conform to specification and
support new product qualification by the
company’s research and development
engineers.
Ten QA tests typically are performed
on each lot of material RTP produces,
and customers may require additional
testing for specific parameters, he said.
The new set-up for QA at the site—
which has undergone several major expansions during RTP’s growth over 25
years—also improved work flow and vis-itor-friendliness for customers coming to
visit the company’s operations, Fratzke
said.
The Winona facility is the company’s
headquarters and largest manufacturing site, spanning more than 300,000
square feet and employing about 200.
RTP has 10 production sites worldwide—seven in North America, two in
Asia and one in Europe—and employs
about 600 globally.
MEDICAL SHOW BRIEFS
Polymer Science adds silicone adhesive line
Polymer Science Inc. has unveiled a line of silicone gel adhesives to meet
medical market demand for innovative skin contact applications.
The line includes gel adhesives PS-114, PS-1155 and PS-1156 for use in
wound dressings, medical devices, hypertrophic scar therapies and cosmeceuti-cal patches, the Monticello, Ind.-based firm said.
The products’ attributes include good attachment to the contours of the body,
gentle release for the most fragile skin, long wear time and hypoallergenic and
moisture-resistant properties, Polymer Science said.
LMS offers MediSnap, SureSnap valve cartridges
Liquid Molding Systems Inc. has introduced its MediSnap- and SureSnap-brand valve cartridges to aid in valve retention and flow control in medical or
other applications.
The snap-fit cartridges securely retain LMS’ patented MediFlo and SureFlo
valves, eliminating flow control problems, the company said. Each cartridge
size can be fitted with different performing valves to meet specific flow control
needs, the Midland, Mich.-based liquid silicone injection molder said.
Teknor Apex releases elastomer resource guide
A resource guide from Teknor Apex Co.’s Thermoplastic Elastomer Division contains extensive data on 33 of the company’s Medalist-brand high-purity
elastomer compounds for health care applications.
The Pawtucket, R.I.-based firm is offering the ring binder to qualified original equipment manufacturers, designers and processors in the medical device
and health care product industries.
Each guide—which contains grade information and data on issues including
toxicology, sterilization, chemical resistance and physical properties—is registered to a specific recipient, who will receive updates with new test results and
data on new Medalist grades as they become available, Teknor Apex said.
Binders can be requested from the Medalist Web site at www.medalistmd.com
or by e-mail from Teknor Apex at medalist@teknorapex.com.
