A specialist healthcare contract manufacturer has invested more than £200,000 into expanding its cleanroom capability.
Europlaz, which saw revenues rise to £13.9m over the last twelve months, has created 200m2 of additional space at its Essex-based site to cater for a recently won medical contract and to deliver more capacity for securing future business.
The facility will now be able to house an additional four moulding machines and dedicated assembly lines – all ISO 7 cleanroom compliant, ensuring global cleanliness standards.
It marks the next stage of an investment drive that is now nearing £4m and gives it the opportunity to boost contract manufacturing sales by 20%.
“This is a very timely development that allows us to grow with increasing customer volumes and, importantly, take advantage of more European and US clients looking to reshore projects from the Far East,” explained Rory O’Keeffe, Commercial Director at Europlaz.
“Two new injection moulding machines have already been installed and these will produce products for med tech specialist Olympus. This proves straight away that the appetite is there to tap into expertise, services and the wide range of operational benefits contract manufacturing can provide.”
Europlaz, which is ISO13485-certified, operates from its state-of-the-art production facility on The Maltings Industrial Estate in Southminster, near Chelmsford.
From here, the family-run business offers injection moulding, assembly, product validation and access to modern cleanrooms, all certified to ISO Class 7 for the manufacture of Class I, Class II and Class III medical devices.
Most of its work is focused on helping medical device and healthcare businesses commercialise new technology, with recent success stories featuring a home dialysis machine, a patient friendly and easy-to-use breath operated inhaler and a bio-artificial liver.
Its latest win is with Olympus to help it produce ENDOCUFF VISION™, a revolutionary colonoscopy device that increases the detection rate for adenomas by up to 11%.
Studies indicate that, for every 1,000 patients screened, it is estimated that up to 110 patients with an adenoma could have been additionally identified using this technology, improving patient outcomes.
The production process involves two-stage injection moulding (an initial shot followed by overmoulding) with four different variants being made for the UK, European and international markets.
For further information, www.europlaz.co.uk
