The new equipment is due to be installed in Rayner's new 'best-in-class' production plant that is due to open this July in Worthing.
Innomech is developing several units for use in key stages of the lens manufacturing process, all of which are designed to meet the latest EU and global regulations for medical device manufacturing systems.
“Innomech is the ideal partner for Rayner because of their experience in precision cutting, working with rotating parts and in developing equipment for regulated manufacturing environments. Rayner’s new production facilities will see us bring in a new generation of high precision lens processing equipment to improve process efficiencies, more than doubling manufacturing capacity, and to have the first new production line fully functioning and validated before the end of 2015,” said Mike Collins, project director for the new Rayner site.
The new equipment to be supplied by Innomech falls into two types: the first being high precision bench-top units for materials cutting, designed to operate seven days per week and to deliver a significant improvement on the already low rejection rates for the company’s existing units.
The second category of equipment will be used at an intermediate and critical manufacturing stage for lens polishing before the implantable lenses are further processed, optically measured and packaged for sterilisation. These high performance units have also been specially designed by Innomech to minimise noise generation, to operate 24/7 for 50 weeks of the year and to provide electronic batch reports for compliance with FDA 21CFR11 regulations for electronic records.
Rayner manufactures intraocular lenses (IOL) and associated products for the treatment of cataracts and myopia, and is committing significant investment to build its new group headquarters and production plant in Worthing. The new facilities have been designed by Morgan Sindall Group to have a BREEAM ‘very good’ rating for their environmental credentials and will enable all Rayner staff engaged in manufacturing and other group activities to be brought together for the first time onto a single site. From a construction perspective, the new building has also been designed to accommodate future expansion without causing any disruption to normal production.
Image: A typical Rayner IOL fabricated from a flexible hydrophilic material so that it can be inserted through small surgical incisions. This multifocal lens has a 6.5 mm diameter optic and total device width of 14 mm.
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