We complement life science

Producing medical components requires understanding and compliance with strict legal hygiene standards. It requires extensive expertise in plastics, material properties, toolmaking, and injection molding processes. Plastics must be biocompatible, chemically resistant, sterilizable, and traceable. Microfluidic applications involve aligning fluidic functions with injection molding needs, such as incorporating suitable draft angles and radii to prevent material stress. In addition, at RKT, each production step is carried out in ISO class 8 or 7 clean-room environments per customer requirements for which our employees are specially trained.

Early planning of all process steps is crucial when transitioning innovative medical products to full-scale production. Processes that do well with low-volume prototypes may face challenges in large-scale production if details such as injection mold needs aren’t carefully considered early. Startups should involve an industrial partner early to identify and address issues related to volume production, including product design, material selection, assembly methods, and packaging. This proactive approach helps ensure smooth scalability and reduces potential hurdles down the line.

Multi-component injection molding combines two (2K) or three (3K) different plastics into a single component in one injection molding step. This eliminates extra assembly steps, saving time and logistics costs. It’s ideal when combining plastics that offer technical or visual benefits. The process demands extensive expertise, including material knowledge, custom tool construction, and injection mold processing skills including precise temperature control for each material involved.

Injection molds with more than eight cavities are known as high-cavity molds. They are typically utilized and cost-effective for smaller, simpler components needed in large volumes. RKT is well experienced with high cavity tools and recently successfully launched multiple 128 cavity tools. Special considerations must be taken in mold design and construction to ensure all cavities are absolutely identical in dimensions and surface finish to ensure consistent part quality across the mold.