GW Plastics Expands Medical Device Contract Manufacturing Capabilities

GW Plastics has completed a major expansion of its state-of-the-art Dongguan, China, facilities in response to the firm’s rapidly growing medical device contract manufacturing business.

Through this expansion, GW Plastics has more than doubled the size of its plant and its new 125,000-square-foot facility will permit the company to streamline its tooling, molding and medical device assembly operations while leaving significant room for future contract manufacturing growth. Now fully operational, the new facilities feature product development and in-house tool-building services, scientific injection molding capabilities to ensure device standardization, and both automated and manual assembly services. The company plans to enhance its Asia manufacturing capabilities with liquid silicone rubber injection molding as well as customer product development support with increased prototyping, bridge tooling, mold sampling, and short-run production.

At the same time, GW Plastics has also broken ground on an expansion of its Royalton, Vt., facilities. This 21,000-square-foot expansion — scalable to 50,000 square feet — will accommodate additional growth of its thermoplastic and liquid silicone rubber injection molding and medical device contract assembly business. Expected to be complete later this spring, the expansion will allow for an additional 30 injection molding machines, an elarged Class 8 liquid silicone rubber cleanroom, and an expansion of its Scientific Molding Process Development and Training Center. This expansion will allow GW Plastics’ affiliate, GW Silicones, to add needed capacity to support ongoing growth. GW Silicones now offers internal liquid silicone rubber tool-building capabilities, flass-less molding, automated assembly, and optical grade liquid silicone rubber molding.

With the expansions of its facilities in the United States and China, GW Plastics provides its customers with the option to commercialize a project domestically in the United States or in a low-cost country, delivering a flexible yet cost-effective manufacturing alternative. “This has allowed us to become a natural extension of our customers’ production capabilities by providing them with a reliable and proven partner to confidently develop and manufacture their finished medical devices across the globe,” said Brenan Riehl, GW Plastics president/CEO.

GW Plastics is a provider of precision injection molding and contract manufacturing services to the healthcare, automotive and consumer/industrial markets. Its core competencies include product development, in-house precision tooling, scientific injection molding, and automated assembly. The firm is headquartered in Bethel, Vt., and operates facilities in Royalton, Vt., San Antonio, Texas, Tucson, Ariz., Querétaro, Mexico, and Dongguan, China.