Medical Device Link.

MEDTEC 2006

To provide a more coherent structure to its far-flung facilities and business activities, Cartolux-Thiers (Peschadoires, France) has announced the establishment of a family-owned holding company. The firm, which will exhibit its thermoforming and injection moulding expertise at MEDTEC, has grouped its six companies under the Top Clean Packaging name.

Founded in 1927, Cartolux-Thiers has developed packaging for everything from cheese to razor blades. The firm eventually supplemented its cardboard box and tube offerings with a range of plastic packaging, and it began seriously targeting the medical industry in the 1990s. Two Class 10,000 cleanrooms were installed in 1994, allowing the company to offer sterile packaging including paperboard, blister packs, polypropylene boxes, and thermoformed products to med-tech OEMs. Currently, approximately 80% of its business is devoted to the medical field.

The Top Clean Packaging holding group comprises five plants in France and one in China. Medical-grade thermoforming projects remain the core activity at the Peschadoires site, while the Harmonyl Plastique branch in Grenoble specializes in the manufacture of technical parts and displays. Top Recycling in Thiers focuses on the recovery of plastic waste. Located in Thiers near the headquarters, Top Clean Injection and Top Clean Silicone will expand the company’s product offerings by providing cleanroom injection moulding of plastics and liquid silicone.

Located 80 km from Shanghai, the company’s newest facility, Cartolux-Suzhou, can design and produce a range of thermoformed products such as medical packaging and handling trays in Class 10,000 cleanroom conditions.

The company’s expansion will give the group a total of 2000 m2 of cleanroom space and 16,000 m2 of total floor space. Representatives from the newly founded Top Clean Packaging Group will be present at MEDTEC to discuss its printing and packaging capabilities.