Polymer Medical Inc. is investing $1.5 million to expand its operations in Orchard Park, N.Y., with the purchase of a 4,500-square-foot facility, creating 15 new jobs in the area for injection molding and assembly services.
The investment includes sensors to record shot-to shot data and "ensure the maximum number of quality pieces per run," a spokesperson for Polymer Medical told Plastics News in an email. "With a combination of direct and indirect sensors, whether in direct contact with the melt or positioned behind an ejector, (Polymer Medical) can detect deviations from an ideal molded part."
"With this data-gathering, we're paying attention to each step in manufacturing medical devices to achieve consistency through tighter tolerances," Ben Harp, president of Polymer Medical, said in a statement. "Using the sensors on the machine as well as an array of auxiliary sensors we install is a tag-team. Tightly monitoring the process is critical for OEMs and results in safe, quality product for patients."
The "new technology to record data from our machines and all the equipment in the cell for making each part … means we can continually analyze the production attributes … of every part we make, ensuring superior quality," Harp said in an Aug. 19 news release.
Polymer Medical was launched earlier this year by Harp and Tom Rybicki who have operated molder PM Plastics Inc. since 2022 in Orchard Park.
The medical device company will produce drug-delivery systems, medical and pharmaceutical disposables, devices for home care and orthopedics, specialty packaging and more.
Invest Buffalo Niagara, a private nonprofit economic and business development organization, assisted the Polymer Medical team with project management, incentive coordination, utility assistance and logistics connections.
