TekniPlex Healthcare opens a new flagship barrier protection systems facility

TekniPlex Healthcare has commenced production activities at its new 200,000-square-foot facility in Madison, Wisconsin. Serving as the premier, flagship location for the company’s Barrier Protection Systems business, the plant will combine state-of-the-art manufacturing technologies with materials science experts – all toward the goal of expanding capabilities and access to crucial protective solutions throughout North America and globally.

Marrying uncompromising quality with high-volume production, the spacious new site strengthens TekniPlex Healthcare’s ability to support medical device and pharmaceutical companies, and ultimately their downstream partners, including hospitals, outpatient surgery centers, laboratories and patients, with reliable access to sterile barrier packaging that protects life-saving medical technologies. For the company’s global set of customers, the plant also helps ensure uninterrupted supply chains and expedient delivery windows.

Providing TekniPlex Healthcare with a true U.S. hub that builds upon decades of legacy barrier protection solutions experience, the plant holds an ISO 13485:2016 quality management system (QMS) certification, indicating its robust and well-documented QMS covering all aspects of medical device design, development, production, and servicing. This certification reinforces the company’s commitment to providing safe and effective solutions for the medtech industry that satisfy regulatory requirements while consistently meeting customers’ expectations.

Among other vital solutions, the facility – TekniPlex Healthcare’s second in Madison, WI – will play a substantial role in producing coated and printed solutions that protect medical devices and wound care products from contaminants, helping improve patient outcomes. Fittingly for a flagship facility, the new plant will incorporate sophisticated modern manufacturing infrastructure. Current assets include a state-of-the-art air knife coater that significantly increases TekniPlex Healthcare’s supply of coated Tyvek® and heat-seal coated reinforced papers for sterilizable barrier applications, such as procedure kits, IV sets, syringes, and implantable devices. Other highlights include a new wide-width eight-color high-definition flexographic printing press, allowing the company to meet exacting healthcare printing specifications with a near-zero waste manufacturing process.

The plant’s sustainability profile is equally elevated, employing an ecofriendly-by-design approach that drastically minimizes waste. In fact, just two sources of waste leave the facility: hand-carried garbage bags and separated recycled waste. Impressively, at least 95% of the waste generated by the facility is recyclable. This aligns with growing demands across the healthcare industry for responsible manufacturing practices that reduce environmental impact without compromising product safety.
Looking ahead, the spacious facility allows for ample near-future expansion opportunities, including existing plans for a second flexographic printer, a cantilevered slitter rewinder, and a reversible salvage rewinder. The company will continue to seek additional capability and capacity enhancements centered at this facility.