The hottest food film manufacturer opens up new fi

Food film manufacturers have opened up new fields in the industry (Part 2)

in the past two to three years, as a way to reduce the production cost of packaging, nylon is gradually replacing ionic cross-linked polymers in the process of film preparation. Because nylon needs a bonding layer to combine with PE sealing layer, the number of layers naturally increases. Three years ago, Rexam health packaging company, located in mandelain, USA, installed two five layer blown film production lines for the first time, and established a five layer film test line to produce nylon based coextrusion film. In 2001, the company first developed a 5-layer film based on nylon. The successful launch of this film allows consumers to choose between a 12 mil thick three-layer film made of ionic cross-linked polymer and a 10 mil thick five layer film made of nylon

the number of layers has set a new record

as some companies have the ability to produce 8, 9 and 11 layers of medical films, the number of layers of medical films is growing rapidly. Although these highly layered films have only a small market share, they reduce the cost of some commonly used medical products (such as syringe packaging), because the packaging cost of commonly used medical devices is higher than its own cost. At present, using more layers of CO extruded medical films has become a development trend. Macro engineering company recently sold three 7-9-layer medical film casting production lines to China and Brazil. In addition, several large companies in the food packaging industry are also actively introducing these multilayer films into the packaging of medical products

the medical packaging film produced by Winpak Co., Ltd., located in Manitoba, Canada, can be used for the packaging of disinfection bags. This is an 11 layer film based on nylon, and it is also the coextruded film with the largest number of layers used for medical packaging in the world today. It is reported that these films are produced by a 11 layer extrusion casting film production line that originally produced thermoplastic food packaging insulation films. Recently, the multi-layer blown film produced by Winpak company using extruder is also used in medical packaging

Winpak's goal is to reduce the cost of medical component film by applying the technology of coextrusion in isolated food packaging, so as to expand its medical packaging business. In the past three years, the company has used some new materials, such as metallocene catalytic materials, to reduce costs. Whari0ywipak, a sister company of Winpak that has convenient assembly and maintenance in Finland, is a global manufacturer of high-tech packaging films. In 1997, wihuri oy Wipak installed a special casting film production line to produce the packaging film of medical devices. This production line is equivalent to an absolute clean room of 1 o0000 level (there are 1 o0 000 particles per cubic foot of air)

in fact, wihuri oy Wipak is not the first company to transfer high isolation technology from the field of food packaging film to the field of medical packaging film. As early as 1996, Bemis company in Minneapolis applied a paper coating processing technology it obtained from perfecseal company to the production of medical film. Although this behavior has great risks, it can bring low-cost multilayer medical component films to the medical packaging market

Mr. Chris 0sborn, rolistock marketing manager of perfecseal company, said, "in the past seven years, multilayer has always been our foothold. Now, great changes have taken place in consumers' willingness to use multilayer materials. We have seen the rapid growth of coextruded films. Using thin films with discontinuous layers can make more effective use of expensive high-performance polymers. " At present, perfecseal has opened its first professional medical film factory in New London (American city, Connecticut), and merged the medical film business of several previously dispersed food film factories. In the new London plant, perfecseal produces more than five layers of blown film

pliant company in Chicago has provided both food packaging film and medical packaging film in recent years. About two years ago, the company also began to produce seven layers of medical film

blow molding and casting molding

most medical packaging films in North America use blow molding films. Due to the inherent orientation and stronger tensile strength of the film produced by blow molding process, it has become the preferred process for film forming. However, some blown film production lines originally designed for food packaging have encountered challenges in the field of medical packaging film production. The high output, water quenching and downward extruded bubbles of medical films require different nylon formulas, because amorphous films have more memory effect and shrinkage when products are packaged. If the packaged products are sharp or fragile medical devices, it is detrimental to the blown film

in Europe, the film used for medical packaging is more inclined to cast film, because the cast film has better size control

cut 1 life: the cast film also allows controllable shape, so that the film can be completely amorphous and feel softer than blow molded film

the technical director of a large health care company in the United States said, "in the United States, which operation process is more worrying is still under debate. Mr. stop post, casting film business manager of Davis standa rd fi1m coating systems in Somerville, Massachusetts, said "Multilayer cast medical film is not produced by traditional equipment. In order to get a flat film, it is necessary for the film to be humidified and annealed in the water tank."

respond to competition

in the face of high-tech challenges from food packaging film manufacturers, traditional medical film manufacturers are very vulnerable, and they do not have greater ability to invest in new technology fields. Because there is no user approval in; In case of poor quality, the manufacturer is prohibited from changing or upgrading the production line in any way. Therefore, many long-term medical packaging films are made with relatively old equipment and technology

on the other hand, food packaging equipment has been constantly upgraded. For example, in its extruded food packaging production line, advanced instruments are often used to test and control the thickness and barrier properties of the film. More than 20 listed companies in pefecsea's new film factory have announced plans to expand the production of power batteries, which is to automatically monitor and control calipers on the casting and blow molding film production lines. In contrast, most medical film manufacturers rely on weight measuring feeders and free film sampling to control the film layer and size. In this regard, EGS measurement Co., Ltd., located in bierrica, Massachusetts, pointed out that all multilayer food packaging film production lines have applied film measurement technology, but the medical film market is not active in this field

in fact, medical film manufacturers have invested in the field of quality control, but they invest more in quality management than in technology. For example, Rexam heaithca re flexihies has been making every effort to ensure that all its factories in North America initially selected the ISO 13485 quality standard for medical devices in 2004. Qi Yu ISO 9001] rollprint packaging products Co., Ltd., located in Addison, Illinois, USA, is a supplier of extrusion coating and extrusion lamination medical films. Breakwater company has announced on its website that they have implemented the ISO 13485 standard, However, no formal certification has been obtained.

in order to cope with the competition, Rexam healthca Flexibles has also adopted other methods to improve production efficiency. The methods they have adopted do not require legal confirmation of their production process. These methods have been adopted as appropriate, which has increased the production efficiency of thin films by 20 ~ 3O% in the past three years

some small laminated film manufacturers deal with market competition by using CO extrusion and cloth mixing operation. In 1999, rollprfnt invested US $14million to purchase co extrusion coating equipment, including three extruders and one edge banding machine. They used these equipment to coat 1-5 layers of film on film, paper, sheet metal and other collective materials. They expect to invest in CO extrusion coating equipment. Improve quality and quality, and cut costs

the unique 5-layer co extruded poly (vinyl acetate)/sheet metal composite produced by rollprint company is used to pack iodine swabs. In addition, Rexam also cut costs by using CO extrusion coating technology. A peelable product called core skin was originally made by bonding multilayer coextrusion blown film laminations to a film substrate. Now, using coextrusion coating technology, this product can be made in one step, and the film produced is cheaper and more durable

resistance to reform

at present, the reform of the medical film market has been hindered by many factors, including the slow approval process and the long-standing business relationship culture. According to medical film manufacturers, medical device manufacturers usually like to do business with suppliers who have been engaged in medical film production for a long time. They like to use familiar packaging materials, regardless of the market we touch. As of July 2017, they care about their costs

in the United States, medical packaging films need to be formally identified by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) before they can be used with a specific medical device, and this identification process often takes several years or longer. At the same time, device manufacturers have a great choice of packaging. The film must be confirmed by the device manufacturer before it can be legally used for medical purposes. The confirmation of the film is also very demanding, including accurate resin grades and additives, extrusion parameters, and even the specific extruder that produces the film in the factory

once a package has obtained the qualification certification, the product can remain unchanged for several years. Any change is not allowed without the permission of the device manufacturer

this relatively unchangeable system means that if the manufacturer of medical film must ensure a long-term, stable and approved resin supply. If the resin company stops producing one of the raw materials, the whole film using the new resin must be re certified

because of the above reasons, once the product is approved for use, few medical film manufacturers will adjust the product in order to reduce costs. At present, medical device suppliers also feel the pressure from large hospital purchasing groups, requiring them to cut the packaging costs of some commonly used devices such as gauze, syringes, hoses, swabs and so on

information source: export commodity packaging