Vacuum forming within the Medical Industry

The pandemic has underlined the importance of the medical industry. Frontline professionals can only do their job with the right equipment (including PPE). This equipment needs to be packaged to keep it both safe and hygienic. Vacuum forming is an excellent way of creating both the equipment and its packaging. Here’s what you need to know. 

Thermoforming is massively scalable 

Probably everyone has had first-hand experience of how the pandemic caused problems with the global supply chain. Shipping issues led to products being held up, then delivered all at once. This resulted in their being times when stocks of products were, at best, uncomfortably low. There were also times when there was an excess of supply. 

Obviously, nobody wants to see a return to these circumstances. It is, however, reassuring to know that some technologies are flexible enough to cope with it. The nature of vacuum forming means that it can be scaled up and down very quickly so it's ideal for coping with rapidly-changing situations. 

On a pleasanter note, vacuum forming’s scalability means that it provides an affordable route-to-market for small-scale producers. This is a real benefit for the production of both innovative medical products and niche medical products. 

Thermoforming is very quick 

In thermoforming, the majority of the work relates to the creation of the mould. This can be divided into two parts. These are the design stage and the physical construction stage. There are no hard-and-fast rules about how long the design stage takes. That said, it tends to be relatively quick compared to other technologies. Moulds, after all, are basically very simple. 

The length of time it takes to construct the mould depends largely on the material used. As a rule of thumb, if you’re prepared to use a light material, moulds can be created very quickly. They may not last for an extended production run but they can certainly get you started. You can then switch to a more robust material later. 

Once you have the mould, the actual process of thermoforming is exceptionally quick compared to other technologies. It does, however, still allow for quite a bit of flexibility in design. For example, you can use different colours and textures. This can be useful for differentiating between different versions of the same product, for example different doses of medication. 

Thermoforming produces robust, hygienic items 

Safety and hygiene are paramount considerations for medical equipment and medication. In the context of medicine safety does not just mean protecting a product from physical damage. It also means protecting a product from both deliberate tampering and accidental access. 

Thermoforming is excellent for both of these purposes. The main reason for this is that thermoformed products are created as single, whole items. This automatically makes them harder to damage than items made out of individual parts. 

It also means that thermoformed packaging can be sealed easily and effectively. This helps to prevent both accidental damage and inappropriate access. It also helps to make it more obvious when the seal has been broken.