All-electric injection presses form part of £7m 'future view' investment

Owen Mumford, one of the UKÂ’s leading companies in the supply and manufacture of specialist medical devices, has invested in all-electric injection moulding presses for its 'Phase 5' manufacturing facility, now close to completion, at the firmÂ’s Chipping Norton site. The all-electric moulding presses include 5 FANUC ROBOSHOT moulding machines and 4 FANUC 6 axes robots.

The presses form part of a £7million investment by Owen Mumford and represents its vision of future needs for medical device manufacturing excellence. Comprising a 1,000m2 clean room area, in a purpose-built facility, Owen Mumford’s Manufacturing team has maximised on this 'ground-up' opportunity to project design and implement the latest technology and thinking for clean room manufacturing facility design.

Group Operations Director, Modestino Graziano, commented, "Best in class manufacturing facilities, along with a clear focus on manufacturing excellence are minimum requirements for our industry. We based 'Phase 5' on the high standards our clients expect, on the requirements to meet future industry regulations and our team's extensive experience of manufacturing for this sector.

"For example, the facility has been developed with energy savings in mind; and from our past experience of FANUC ROBOSHOT all-electric injection moulding machines, we know the total cost profile of electric machines is lower than that of hydraulic machines".

FANUC ROBOSHOT injection moulders were the first all-electric moulding machines available when they were introduced to the market in the early 1980s and to date it is believed they remain the only moulders available that are designed from the ground up as all-electric machines; other electric machines are based on hydraulic platform designs.

Since their introduction, precision, monitoring, control and energy saving ability have been FANUC's continual development driving force for their injection moulding machine range.

The five ROBOSHOT S-2000 i250B injection moulding machines are ideal for the precise nature of medical device delivery systems where thin wall and ultra precision moulding is required. Incorporating its newly developed high power servo motor into the injection unit allows injection speeds of up to 1,000 mm/s to be acheived together with accurately monitored high clamping pressure.

High-quality and stable moulding is maintained by precise backflow monitoring, metering and the rigid construction of the machines. Overall machine control is provided by FANUC's latest control technology based on its CNC control platform used across all FANUC product lines.

Flexibility of integration of equipment, within the project, has been critical for the Owen Mumford team to achieve their ultimate goals, "Throughout the project, FANUC has been happy to help which is crucial to smooth the project implementation process.