The breakdown.
The Customer:
OGM are leading UK plastic injection moulders, working across full injection moulding, medical grade plastics, mould toolmaking, bespoke assemblies, and finishing operations.
Based in Oxford, OGM is an injection moulding company that represents the highest quality and standards in plastic injection moulding. For this reason, and because of their Class 7/10,000 cleanroom assembly areas, it’s no wonder they’re chosen by medical OEMs worldwide.
The Challenge:
OGM is no stranger to injection moulding components that are medical-grade, but due to a developing contract with a new customer, they needed to invest in industrial cleaning.
Plastic injection moulded parts are usually not cleaned. However, the component OGM is contracted to make is a disposable, single-use device intended for use in the body.
This meant the injection moulding components needed to be completely free of residues, oils, and other airborne particulates. This would ensure that the medical plastics were safe for use.
The Conclusion:
Turbex and OGM worked together to implement the most cost-effective cleaning solution for the injection moulding process using MAFAC’s exceptional Java.
The solution was 3 to 4 times more cost-effective than the large ultrasonics line originally proposed by OGM’s customer. Plus, it is 20% more energy efficient, and easy to scale as OGM’s contract grows.
OGM needed consistent, efficient
cleaning for 1000s of parts.
While OGM have impressive internal expertise and capacity, they’ve never undertaken post-process cleaning on injection moulding components as required by their customer.
Turbex were sought after to ideate, develop, and implement an efficient cleaning process for OGM’s high-output production line.
OGM’s customer conducted initial cleaning investigations focusing solely on ultrasonic cleaning.
However, through trials and extensive cleaning knowledge, Turbex discovered that multi-stage ultrasonic cleaning alone was not the best choice for cleaning the vast quantities of medical grade plastic parts OGM would be producing.
A precision cleaning rotation system featuring ultrasonic capabilities was found to be more efficient for cleaning hundreds of identical injection moulding components en masse.
The chosen machine featured a single chamber, large basket, rotation, immersion, and drying capabilities – keeping the entire process within a single chamber and saving time compared to an ultrasonic line.
OGM visited Turbex’s advanced Cleaning Technology Centre in Hampshire for cleaning trials using their chosen JAVA with a front-mounted automated conveyor.
The Technology Centre and Turbex’s expertise in exploratory cleaning trials proved instrumental in helping OGM find the perfect solution for plastic injection moulding.
“Precision cleaning with rotation was the natural choice for OGM’s scale of injection moulding production.
The MAFAC Java is an excellent choice in this regard. With simple scalability, an all-in-one design, and a compact footprint, it’s the perfect cleaning technology for a medical grade plastics manufacturer with growing needs.”
John Huntington
Managing Director, Turbex
How our services helped.
Turbex was instrumental in assisting OGM throughout their investment in plastic injection moulding cleaning. In particular, Turbex helped OGM’s team explain the process and technology to their end customer.
This collaborative approach built trust and rapport, leading to a continued partnership between the two businesses.
Just last week, OGM purchased and accepted delivery of its 5th MAFAC Java machine to match its growing production environment.
Turbex created a cost-effective and scalable investment.
If OGM had invested in the large ultrasonic cleaning line they first considered, they would have had to gradually fill the machine’s cleaning capacity over time while contending with a large up-front investment.
Because their volume of manufactured injection moulding components was growing consistently, OGM was able to spread its cleaning investment by adding further machines as their production ramped up.
The result is a steady, predictable investment, rather than a costly up-front investment.
“Turbex helped us find a solution that was scalable, cost-effective, and easy to explain to our own customers. Their team worked with us, not just for us—and that made all the difference.”
Freddie Wilson-Lyons
Engineering Manager
The results.
Greener and scalable
The MAFAC Java solution uses 20% less energy than the Ultrasonic line, saving
significant energy while cleaning thousands of injection moulding components.
Smaller footprint
The MAFAC Java requires 2m2 of floorspace, rather than the 7x2m floor space
required by the Ultrasonic line option.
Cost savings
The chosen solution is 3 to 4 times less expensive than OGM’s original cleaning plans.
Download our OGM
case study now
Discover how Turbex helped leading UK plastic injection moulders, OGM, implement a scalable and cost-effective cleaning solution for medical injection moulded components.
