“At PMC, we differentiate ourselves through the innovative ways we ap-proach applications. Milacron helps give us the kind of control we need to achieve smarter processes with minimum waste – a true overall financial benefit.” Lisa Jennings President, PMC

Keep Getting SMARTer

PMC hasn’t lasted over 80 years by standing still. As market demands intensify, this fourth-generation, family-owned injection molder continues to strive to be more for its customers.

With a rigorous approach the Cincinnati, OH-based company calls SMART (Scientific Manufacturing Assures Reliable Throughput), PMC has staked out a niche in ultra-precision insert and multi-shot molding – taking on applications with some of the world’s toughest requirements:

• Implantable medical devices and handheld surgical instruments
• Safety-critical automotive parts such as fuel, brake and electronic power steering components

“We differentiate ourselves by combining the most challenging applications in processing, tooling or materials – achieving levels of precision that very few others are capable of in automotive and medical, while providing solutions our customers may not have thought possible” said Lisa Jennings, president of PMC.

Tackling the Tightest Tolerances

As precision requirements go, it doesn’t get more challenging than medical implants.

That’s why PMC invests aggressively in the latest technologies and practices for customers in this market, including a Class 100,000 cleanroom as well as ISO 13485: 2003 certification and FDA Good Manufacturing Practices compliance at its plant in Shelbyville, IN.

Just as important as standards are the materials involved with biomedical products. PMC uses a variety of advanced materials, including:

• PEEK – Unfilled and Filled Polyetheretherketon
• Bioresorbables – Lactide, Polylactides, Polyglycolide, & Lactide/Glycolide Copolymers
• TPU – Thermoplastic Polycarbonate Urethane
• PPSU – Polyphenylsulfone
• PSU – Polysulfone

Advanced Materials Require Advanced Equipment

Engineering-grade materials offer specific properties that are vital to the success of many medical devices. But they also come with difficult processing parameters and high resin costs.

“When materials cost thousands of dollars per pound, every fraction of material savings we can achieve is important,” said Jennings.

That’s where PMC’s partnership with Milacron comes into play. Working closely with the PMC team to address the unique needs of their sophisticated operation, Milacron has supplied ROBOSHOT all-electric injection molding machines capable of achieving toler-ance levels as low as 15-20 microns.

Milacron and ROBOSHOT provide PMC with the high precision the company’s customers demand.

“Our machines allow us to get greater control of our shot size. As a result, we can use injection rather than extrusion for very small implantable parts and use much less ma-terial in the process,” said Jennings.

In its medical cleanroom as well as its automotive production, PMC deploys a total of six ROBOSHOTs – two 33-ton, one 110-ton, two 165-ton and one 380-ton. Roboshots are now PMCs standard for all new horizontal injection molding purchases.

Repeatability. Flexibility. Productivity.

Lowell Green, PMC director of manufacturing, cited a range of other ways Milacron and ROBOSHOT support the company’s ultra-precise molding operations.

• Ease of customizing input/output signals and controls for new applications.
• Quick troubleshooting with robust controls.
• Shot-to-shot consistency.
• Shot size flexibility on one machine.
• Fast startup – for example, a new 8-cavity, hot runner stripper plate tool running con-sistently after just 5 shots.

“Perhaps most importantly, we partner with Milacron because they help us optimize repeatability and precision control of all molding functions,” Green said.

From the beginning, the Milacron team has applied its longtime leadership in all-electric technology to configure the ROBOSHOTs perfectly for PMC’s challenging applications while ensuring maximum uptime and productivity.

“We’re running 24/7, so when we need something serviced, it’s critical that it be done immediately,” said Jennings. “The reliability of both our machines and our manufacturing partners is important, and we get that with Milacron.”

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