Industry News
In BriefUniform Tubes Acquires Spectrum Manufacturing
Uniform Tubes (Manchester, UK), a manufacturer of precision metal tubing and fabricated tubular parts and assemblies, recently acquired Spectrum Manufacturing (Wheeling, IL, USA), a manufacturer of wire-EDM and laser cutting technologies.
"Spectrum Manufacturing is a total in-house source for all machining and fabrication, which makes it a perfect partner for Uniform Tubes," says Andrew D. Freed, president of Uniform Tubes. According to Freed, the company can now offer its customers a broad range of capabilities in the manufacture of high-precision small metal parts and assemblies.
For more information, contact Uniform Tubes, Unit E3, Brookside Business Park, Greengate, Manchester M24 1GS, UK; phone: +44 161 6430018; fax: +44 161 6430019.
Comar Expands Contract Packaging Facility
Comar Inc. (Buena, NJ, USA) has expanded its contract packaging facility with new equipment and additional packaging rooms. Using its new Klöckner Compacker 1200 blister packaging machine and Pacliner 3000 Cartoner in combination with thermoforming equipment, the company can accommodate a full range of blister packaging needs. Applications include high-speed form, fill, and seal operations, liquid- and solid-dose bottle filling, POP packaging, pouch filling, and secondary packaging.
For more information, contact Comar Inc., One Comar Place, Buena, NJ 08310, USA; phone: +1 609 6926100; fax: +1 609 6929251.
HIMA Expands Membership Eligibility
The Health Industry Manufacturers Association (HIMA; Washington, DC, USA) recently announced a change in its bylaws that will expand membership eligibility to include international companies that sell, but do not manufacture, medical technology products in the United States. Before the amendment, a company had to manufacture in the United States to be eligible. The change allows HIMA to offer more companies its expertise in US regulatory affairs and payment for health-care delivery.
"Regardless of whether a company has a US manufacturing site, it must understand US regulatory requirements and comply with them if it sells products in this country," says William W. George, HIMA chairman and CEO of Medtronic Inc. "It is to the entire industry's advantage that all companies selling in the United States work together responsibly on vital issues that concern us all."
HIMA president Alan H. Magazine adds that expanding membership eligibility will give the organization a stronger voice. "HIMA expects to gain a broader perspective on global medical technology that will benefit our discussions with US policymakers on a wide range of subjects," says Magazine.
For more information, contact HIMA, 1200 G St. N.W., Ste. 400, Washington, DC 20005-3814, USA; phone: +1 202 7838700; fax: +1 202 7838750.
LNP Engineering Plastics Receives Quality Award
LNP Engineering Plastics Europe B.V. (Raamsdonksveer, Netherlands) was recently awarded the Dutch Quality Distinction for 1997. The Institute for Dutch Quality (INK) presented the award to LNP in a ceremony at the Amsterdam RAI on 13 November. The company was recognized for its high level of technological expertise and flexibility.
For more information, contact LNP Engineering Plastics Europe B.V., Ottergeerde 2228, NL-4941 VM Raamsdonksveer, Netherlands; phone: +31 162 587600; fax: +31 162 587730.
Alloyd Adds Medical Packaging to Manufacturing Capabilities
Alloyd Co. (De Kalb, IL, USA) recently announced its expansion into the medical packaging field at the Medical Design & Manufacturing (MD&M) West Conference and Exposition in Anaheim, CA, USA. The custom thermoformer and manufacturer of packaging machinery has broadened its product line to include medical thermoforming trays and heat sealing and RF machines. At MD&M West, Alloyd displayed custom-designed medical tray samples and a Callanan 10 KW Shuttle RF welding machine. The company has Class 100,000 cleanroom capability.
For more information, contact Alloyd Co., 1401 Pleasant St., De Kalb, IL 60115, USA; phone: +1 815 7568451; fax: +1 815 7565187.
Chelsea Instruments Receives ISO Certifications
Chelsea Instruments Ltd. (W Molesey, Surrey, UK), a contract developer and manufacturer of biomedical instrumentation, was recently certified to ISO 9001 for the design, development, and manufacture of biomedical and analytical systems, and to ISO 9000-3 for software development. The company offers expertise in electrochemical, optical, and physical sensors; high-sensitivity fluorimetry and luminometry; photometry and spectrophotometry; thermal cycling; calibration; precision liquid handling; and assay techniques.
For more information, contact Chelsea Instruments Ltd., 2/3 Central Ave., W Molesey, Surrey KT8 2QZ, UK; phone: +44 181 9410044; fax: +44 181 9419319.
ETIAM Launches Cooperative Medical Imaging Product
ETIAM (Rennes, France) recently launched the first of a series of cooperative medical imaging products. Mediem medical imaging e-mail has been designed for integration into medical equipment.
ETIAM was founded by Cerium, a group of engineers that have been responsible for software development in cooperation with the Signals and Medical Imaging (SIM) laboratory, the hospital and the University of Rennes, and industrial companies. Etiam strives to provide high-level software libraries to firms that are developing medical-imaging products.
For more information, contact ETIAM, Technopole Atalante-Villejean, 20 rue du Pr Jean Pecker, F-35000 Rennes, France; phone: +33 299 143388; fax: +33 299 143380.
Shows and Conferences
International Quality Assurance Trade Fair Premieres in Sweden
The first Elmia Qualitec International Quality Assurance Trade Fair will take place 2426 March at the Elmia Exhibition Centre in Jönköping, Sweden. The trade show will be held concurrently with the Elmia Casttec Trade Fair (casting technology), and the Elmia Joining Trade Fair (joining technologies).
For more information, contact P.E. Schall GmbH, Gustav-Werner-Str. 6, D-72636 Frickenhausen, Germany; phone: +49 7025 92060; fax: +49 7025 920620.
Munich Hosts Analytica 98
Analytica 98, the 16th International Trade Fair and Conference for Analysis, Laboratory Technology, Diagnostics, and Biotechnology, will be held 2124 April at the New Munich Trade Fair Centre. Products that will be featured include diagnostic equipment, assays, culture media, technical and laboratory equipment, and biochemicals.
For more information, contact Messe München GmbH, Messegelände, D-80325 München, Germany; phone: +49 8951 07144; fax: +49 8951 07177.
Seminar to Address Risk Management of Medical Devices Containing Animal Materials
A seminar on the Risk Management of Medical Devices Containing Materials of Animal Origin will be held in Frankfurt at the Airport Conference Centre, 21 March. Sponsored by mdt medical device technology GmbH, the seminar will provide theoretical and practical training on how to apply the general principles of risk management to medical devices that contain materials of animal origin. Topics that will be discussed include manufacturing, in-process controls, process validation, end controls, virus validation studies, and LAL testing for bacterial endotoxins.
For more information, contact the Medical Device Academy, Krautstr. 2, D-87700 Memmingen, Germany; phone: +49 8331 955230; fax: +49 8331 47478.
Cleanroom Technology Expo Comes to Frankfurt
Cleanroom suppliers will display products and services at the Cleanroom Technology Expo to be held in Frankfurt at the Sheraton Hotel, 67 May. The pan-European cleanroom exhibition and conference will focus on such topics as medical applications, design and construction, validation, European cleanroom standards, monitoring, and aseptic processing. Experts will discuss key industry topics.
For more information on this event, contact Angel Business Communications, Kingsland House, 361 City Rd., London EC1V 1LR, UK; phone: +44 171 4177400; fax: +44 171 4177500.
Biotechnology Conference to Be Held in Belgium
The Emerging Technologies in Life Sciences conference will take place 1213 May at the Kredit Bank auditorium in Brussels. The conference is being sponsored by the Biotech & Finance Forum, a joint initiative of the European Commission and the European Association of Securities Dealers (EASD) that aims to develop links between the scientific and industrial community and the financial sphere. In conjunction, a symposium on national and regional biotechnology innovation initiatives will be held the day after the conference at the same location.
For more information, contact the Biotechnology Unit, DG XII, European Commission, rue de la Loi 200, B-1049 Brussels, Belgium; phone: +32 2 2962965; fax: +32 2 2991860.
WEB SIGHTINGS
Sourcing Portugal
Companies sourcing suppliers in Portugal or those simply wanting to know more about the business climate may want to point their browser at http://www.portugaloffer.com. Maintained by António Neto da Silva, former deputy chairman of the Portuguese Export Promotion Board and secretary of state for external trade and foreign investment, the site's mission is to guide international entrepreneurs toward suitable Portuguese suppliers of products and services.
A pull-down menu enables users to limit the company search by sector. Once potential suppliers have been determined, the companies can be contacted via linked Web sites or by e-mail.
Portugaloffer.com also includes a link to Datafile, an on-line news service that covers the Portuguese business world. Ironically, a recent top story on the site reported on a study by the Swiss Bank Corp. that concluded that Portuguese industry is poorly prepared for trade globalization.
The Plastics Network
By providing free access to a comprehensive industry database, the Plastics Network hopes to streamline the process whereby plastics processors, product designers, and OEMs identify and evaluate products, services, and suppliers. According to sales and marketing manager Thomas Rodak II, http://www.plasticsnet.com goes well beyond the basic company profiles and Web site links that are the common currency of many on-line directories. "We give users the power to compare product lines, submit quotes to multiple suppliers, and order products," Rodak explains. The Plastics Network includes information on products ranging from materials to machinery as well as on suppliers of mould making and product design services. Currently, such companies as Bayer Corp., GE Plastics, and Shell Chemical make their product information available on the Web site.
Ordering capabilities are limited to a few select items, but that is slated to change within the next few months, when a broader range of auxiliary equipment and replacement parts will become available.
Transformer Design Software
How should I go about designing an 8000-V-A transformer for a medical environment in accordance with IEC 61558? If you have ever grappled with this or a similar engineering challenge, you'll be interested to learn that a company with 30 years' experience designing and building transformers and chokes has made its design programmes available on the Internet. Rale Engineering (Wettingen, Switzerland) offers design programmes for small transformers, toroidal transformers, large dry transformers, constant voltage regulators, and small chokes at http://www.rale.ch.
One significant advantage of accessing this design software over the Internet is that you pay only for the time you actually use it. "This is by far the most cost-effective way to use design software," says Rale's Hadzimanovic Ratibor. "Your only real investment is the time spent learning to use the program, and we offset this by granting free access time the first month of the contract." According to the company, the average cost of a design can be as low as US$5.
The necessary communication software can be downloaded from the Rale home page free of charge; assistance is available through the site's technical support forum.
Does your company have a must-see site? If so, send a press release to Web Sightings, European Medical Device Manufacturer, Vogelsbergstr. 13, D-65205 Wiesbaden, Germany, or fax the information to +49 6122 51090.
