In order to meet on-going demands from some of its ‘most strategic commercial safety’ customers, Waterlooville-based Hi-Technology Group had already invested in five new 50-tonne Sumitomo (SHI) Demag IntElect machines during the last year.

However, this precision moulder says the investment could not have been better timed. From the start of the Coronavirus pandemic it has been operating round the clock, manufacturing more than 2 million medical-related components a week.

These parts include those for powered personal respirators and hoods, intravenous infusion pumps and docking stations, wireless call buttons, medical PPE, stairlifts, and soap/handwash dispensers. Most are manufactured in the company’s dedicated precision-moulding cell that features the five 50-tonne IntElect machines installed prior to the pandemic — plus another all-electric system installed in May, this time a higher-specification 75-tonne IntElect2.

The facility also houses assembly and finishing machines, including heat inserters, pad printers and ultrasonic welding systems.

Like manufacturers world-wide, Hi-Technology (it has operations in both Hampshire and Slovakia) could not have pre-empted the scale of the Covid-19 health crisis. The original investment in all-electric machinery underpinned the company’s overall expansion strategy to become a world-class precision-manufacturing operation.

However, the extra production capacity allowed it to respond rapidly to the unprecedented medical supply chain challenge.

Given the volume and variety of technical components produced, reaching an output of 3.6 million mouldings in a single week at one point, precision and repeatability are critical.

Nigel Flowers, Sumitomo (SHI) Demag’s managing director, said: “This is where the IntElect excels. The combination of direct drives plus the IntElect’s advanced toggle system ensures a highly stable process.

“Any changes to force patterns are monitored and instantly dealt with; and because the injection process runs more steadily, the plasticised material flows more consistently into the mould cavities. This in turn helps ensure even weight distribution in each cavity and minimises part rejects.”

Hi-Technology has almost 60 moulding machines on three sites and has developed a comprehensive machine reporting system. Performance and production capacity for each machine is monitored in real-time.

A simple colour KPI flags up any major production issues, and the management team can keep track of cycle times, output and machine downtime, helping them to adjust and scale production up when required.