Global Silicone Materials Manufacturer Bluestar Silicones and Extrusion Leader Graham Engineering Corporation Partner for Medical Tubing Testing and Development
The collaboration of equipment, materials, and expertise is intended to advance the development and testing of medical and pharmaceutical grade silicone tubing
YORK, PA, U.S.A., September 21, 2016: Graham Engineering Corporation and Bluestar Silicones jointly announced today that Graham Engineering Corporation will lend equipment, including an American Kuhne 1.5” ULTRA RS silicone lab extruder, and extrusion processing expertise to create a silicone extrusion line at Bluestar Silicones’s 226,000 square foot technical center in York, S.C. for the collaboration. The site includes state-of-the-art clean rooms and enhanced quality systems. It also serves as Bluestar’s global center of excellence for healthcare, medical and long-termimplant grade silicones.
This joint effort is expected to benefit customers and prospective customers of both Bluestar Silicones and Graham Engineering Corporation by enabling them to interact with and learn more about silicone materials, silicone extrusion equipment, and processing, all in one location on the state-of-the-art American Kuhne brand lab line.
“We are very excited to partner with globally-recognized extrusion innovator Graham Engineering Corporation,” says Bob Waitt, marketing manager for Bluestar Silicones’s U.S. medical market. “ American Kuhne silicone extruders are the most advanced on the market today. In concert with our silicone materials expertise, we expect the collaboration to further optimize our heat-cured rubber product processing performance, as well as to provide additional levels of technical service and training for our medical and pharmaceutical tubing customers.”
“When cutting-edge materials, equipment, and processing expertise convene, it creates a rich environment for development and learning. We believe this is a unique opportunity to ally with Bluestar Silicones and that it will cultivate learning to benefit not only both organizations and their customers, but also the industry,” said Steve Maxson, Graham Engineering Corporation’s business development director, extrusion.
In addition to heat cured rubber, Bluestar Silicones offers a full range of silicone technologies for the medical and pharmaceutical markets including liquid silicone rubber (LSR), room-temperature vulcanized silicones (RTVs), skin adhesive tacky gels, cushioning gels and permanent adhesives for the healthcare market. The company also plans to launch three new medical, pharma, and implant grade heat cured rubber product lines in Q4 of 2016.
About Bluestar Silicones
With worldwide operations headquartered in Lyon, France, Bluestar Silicones is a $550 million worldwide silicones raw material manufacturer. The company is one of the world’s leading fully integrated global silicones manufacturers with more than 60 years of silicone expertise. Bluestar Silicones has manufacturing operations throughout the world and combines upstream silicon metal operations and capacity with downstream silicone market and application development expertise. The company offers a comprehensive range of silicone technologies in support of diverse specialty markets including paper release, textile coatings, healthcare, moldmaking, automotive, aerospace, and personal care. Bluestar Silicones is owned by Elkem AS, Norway.
For more information, call +1 866.474.6342 or visit www.bluestarsilicones.com.
Press Contact:
Karen O’Keefe, +1 732.227.2089
Karen.okeefe@bluestarsilicones.com
About Graham Engineering Corporation
The Graham Group acquired majority interest in American Kuhne in 2012, followed by Graham Engineering Corporation’s acquisition of Welex in June 2013. Together, American Kuhne, Welex, and Graham Engineering create a convergence of leading technologies, people, and capabilities in extrusion. Graham is a privately held company headquartered in York, Pennsylvania, USA.
American Kuhne is the preferred provider of engineered solutions for plastics, rubber, and silicone extrusion. American Kuhne solutions comprise standard and custom single screw extruders, feed screws, extrusion systems, and specialized turnkey systems for laboratory, medical tubing, narrow web, wire and cable, pipe, tubing, and profile applications. Visit www.americankuhne.com.
Press Contact:
Gina Haines, +1 404.386.6830
ghaines@grahamengineering.com
