Polymer Medical Inc.
Plastics industry veterans Benjamin Harp and Tom Rybicki have launched Polymer Medical Inc. to provide healthcare and biosciences clients with contract injection-molding and assembly services. The new company’s focus will be producing critical drug-delivery systems, medical disposables like syringes, medical devices for home healthcare to orthopedics, specialty packaging, and pharmaceutical disposables among other services. Harp and Rybicki each have decades of experience founding and operating plastics industry manufacturers for healthcare, pharmaceuticals, and nutraceuticals.
Benjamin Harp, Polymer Medical President
“There’s a rising demand for medical devices partly because of changes in demographics and approaches to home healthcare; the time is right for a new entrant like Polymer Medical. Our knowledge of the specifications and science of producing polymers for healthcare and bioscience along with what we understand about delivering product quality and innovation give us a competitive edge.”
Polymer Market to Grow
According to an array of analyst reports, researchers expect the medical polymers market to grow at a compound annual growth rate of more than five percent through 2030, reaching more than $30 billion. Harp and Rybicki also believe North American customers are more eager than before the pandemic to favor U.S.-based providers for their supply chain. The field is already packed with competition, but Harp and Rybicki see Polymer Medical’s creativity, design know-how, process control, and tooling expertise as critical differentiators.
Tom Rybicki, vice president of Operations for Polymer Medical
“When a client comes to us, we’ll provide Design for Manufacturing analysis to offer ways to improve on what they’re already trusting us to make. When we take an order from a customer, we assess their tool, or mold, for those big or small things that could disrupt production. That saves money for the customer and ensures quality.”
Investment In Management Systems
Quality is a centerpiece for Polymer Medical, which is why Harp says the new company has invested in its quality management systems, in part, to meet ISO 13485:2016 standards for medical devices. After analysis by Polymer Medical’s degreed engineers and RJG Master Molder® qualified technicians and managers, Harp’s employees will produce customers’ designs in ISO-7 and ISO-8 clean manufacturing environments. The company also provides cleanroom assembly and packaging.
“Tom and I have more than 50 years of experience,” Harp adds. “The decision to found Polymer Medical was done after careful consideration of the landscape and market opportunity; we will raise the level of competition and quality for customers.”
Polymer Medical’s newly refurbished plant is at 168 Thorn Ave., Orchard Park, N.Y.