INTERTECH RECEIVES MAPP INNOVATION AWARD FOR FOURTH CONSECUTIVE YEAR
Intertech Plastics, Inc. (“Intertech”), a custom injection molder specializing in highly engineered, tight tolerance manufacturing, has received its fourth consecutive Innovation Award from The Manufacturers Association for Plastic Processors, Inc. (MAPP). The organization’s membership voted on submissions for the 2020 awards focusing on the theme, “Technology on the Factory Floor.”
Intertech’s medical division was recognized for its 4-cavity fitment automation cell, which replaced the time-intensive and high-cost manual process of preparing fitments for inspection and placement in trays. By integrating automation through the use of three robots and a vision system, the process, which handles an estimated annual volume of 1 million fitments, has resulted in reduced labor costs, the ability to stack 50 trays at a time (the manual process only allowed for single tray stacking) and a zero-defect part consistently shipped to the customer. Additionally, Intertech was able to reduce the risk of bioburden contamination for this work-cell, supporting a COVID-19 medical device application.
“It’s always an honor to be acknowledged by your peers, but to receive this recognition four years in a row is incredibly humbling. Our team never stops looking for new and better ways to do things for our customers to ensure every part is perfect,” said Jim Kepler, president of Intertech. “The fact that this particular line was designed and built 100% in-house highlights our commitment to the values that drive innovation. Intertech is a highly collaborative organization focused on employee development. The CareerWise apprenticeship program provides us with a technical resource advantage to leverage new technologies. Intertech is first and foremost a learning organization. It’s qualities like these that drive us to reshape the molding industry.”
Prior to this year, Intertech received MAPP Innovation Awards the past three years:
2019 MAPP Innovation Award for Automated Workstation Layout
2018 MAPP Innovation Award for Array Automation Cell
2017 MAPP Innovation Award for Automation Implementation
