Why is it so difficult to buy plastic parts in 2021? -Medical Plastics News

2021-12-13 20:37:52 By : Mr. Chois Dong

As a component supplier headquartered in the United States, we have seen a significant increase in demand for the shortage of plastic components used in the bioprocess and medical device industries. After hours of public information research and research with industry-leading medical equipment, biotechnology companies, and resin suppliers, we can attribute this situation to three factors.  

On May 15, 2020, President Trump announced the launch of the Warp Speed ​​(OWS) operation to accelerate the delivery of COVID-19 vaccines, treatments, and diagnostics. The goal is to provide 300 million doses by January 2021. As of March 2021, approximately 80% of the 300 million dose target has been achieved.

According to www.TheHill.com: “The most innovative feature of OWS is that the government purchases a large number of vaccine types that are undergoing clinical trials, regardless of the results (for example, early purchases of US$2 billion and 483 million from Pfizer and Moderna, respectively Dollar) .

OWSP calls for clinical trials, manufacturing and logistics to be carried out in parallel rather than sequentially. The pursuit of multiple vaccine types establishes redundancy in the plan to ensure as many approved vaccine types as possible. (Currently, 251 vaccines are under development.)"

As of April 2021, 26% of the U.S. population has been fully vaccinated, and 40% of the population has received the first dose of vaccine. For the international community, Israel is in a leading position, with approximately 60% of countries receiving at least one vaccination, followed by the United Kingdom and Chile (which joins the United States) with more than 40%.

Due to chemical shortages, temporary plant closures, hurricanes and cold weather, and pandemics, global component manufacturers serving medical equipment OEMs and bioprocess customers have to deal with several force majeure situations, and resin supplies are limited. This resulted in an immediate shortage of nylon, polycarbonate, ABS, POM, polypropylene, EVA and polyethylene. Resin suppliers are making progress in overcoming force majeure; however, they are also increasing prices. If the current forecast is correct, then the force majeure should be relieved before the end of the year.

In addition, the reduction in elective surgery was offset by the immediate increase in ventilators and vaccine components. By January 2021, elective surgeries are increasing, which is good news for the general public. However, unless there is clear communication and prediction with customers, this sudden increase in demand may put a burden on component manufacturers.

So what does this mean to you? When will you get the components again?

The answer is probably in hindsight, depending on your component supplier. Warp Speed ​​operations will continue for the unforeseen future. As mentioned above, as of April 2021, no country except Israel has an initial vaccination rate of more than 50%. The United States has also pledged to provide 100 million U.S. dollars in supply for the current COVID outbreak in India. The U.S. government mandates that component suppliers that support strict OWS guidelines have no choice, because the government will definitely require them to continue to support the fight against COVID and obtain a return on early investment. These companies are doing a public service, which of course is needed and should be applauded! However, as other original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) who manufacture non-COVID products are learning about the issue of extending delivery times or even canceling orders, more and more people are frustrated.

Injectech, LLC is a global supplier of medical equipment and biological process components. Our focus is to provide solutions, whether they are off-the-shelf, customized, or variants of current components.

Although we are not immune to the pandemic, our management team has conducted risk analysis for many years in the early stages of the pandemic. Last year, we doubled the area of ​​the Class 8 clean room, purchased more molding machines and invested in a large number of mold bases. We know that the pandemic will be a hurdle for several years, but these investments are made to allow our company to meet the needs of our customers-they will happen whenever they are. We communicate with customers and closely monitor how external factors will affect their production lines. We are committed to offsetting and internalizing the aforementioned market disruption scenarios before our customers find themselves in a downtime crisis.  

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