Linear Plastics and WIBA UK rise to the challenge for ventilator part supply

Linear Plastics says it has recently answered the call to arms in the fight against Covid 19.

The company’s manufacturing requirement was at the heart of the UK Government’s procurement strategy against Covid 19 and Linear’s Wittmann Battenfeld SmartPower 60 injection moulding machine was prepared and ready for action.

Early in the pandemic the Wales Centre for Advanced Batch Manufacture, CBM, contacted Linear Plastics with an urgent request for tooling and production.

Andrew Harrison, Linear Plastics General Manager, said: “The component CBM needed is a critical ancillary part of a ventilator machine – thousands of which are being manufactured for the Covid crisis. Our friends at CBM chose us for our ability to handle the project from first designs to packaged product delivered direct to the healthcare frontline.”

Linear Plastics took just four weeks to turn the job around.

Daniel Williams, Joint Managing Director of Wittmann Battenfeld (WIBA) UK, explained: “‘Once again we are proud to be associated with our customer Linear Plastics and also delighted that our SmartPower injection moulding technology helped deliver such a healthcare asset for the nation.”

Linear is now using the SmartPower 60 machine to produce some 6,000 parts daily in medical grade polypropylene for the project.

The company expects to taper off ongoing production as the total inventory of component parts nears six figures.

Andrew Harrison added: “It’s not every day that you’re involved in something that being scrutinised as part of daily Government Cabinet businesses. I believe that we more than acquitted ourselves and, hopefully, this will be the start of a number of projects with Swansea-based CBM.

CBM is established in Swansea by the University of Wales Trinity St David. It is an industry-focused advanced research, new product development and batch manufacturing facility.