Global Materials Manufacturer Bluestar Silicones and Extrusion Leader Graham Engineering Corporation Partner for Medical Tubing

September 21, 2016

The collaboration of equipment, materials, and expertise is intended to advance the development and testing of medical and pharmaceutical grade silicone tubing

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- clean rooms and enhanced quality systems. It also serves as Bluestar’s global center of excellence for healthcare, medical and long-term implant 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- 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.