Interview MedtecLIVE 2024

A global vision for medical injection moulding - Karl Stillman

Karl Stillman, Vice President, Strategic Sales, Rosti Group, explains to Medical Device Developments how technological capability and manufacturing knowhow must go hand in hand with management capability and years of experience to fully satisfy the industry’s requirements.

High-precision injection moulding is essential to the manufacture of many medical devices, but technology alone cannot meet the stringent quality levels demanded by today’s life sciences sector. Karl Stillman, vice-president, strategic sales, Rosti Group, explains how technological capability and manufacturing know how must go hand in hand with management capability and years of experience to fully satisfy the industry’s requirements.

Why is it important to have an experienced contract manufacturer handling the injection moulding process? 

With over 80 years of experience in delivering complex plastic injection moulding contracts, Rosti have a wealth of knowledge and expertise to support the medical sector navigating the complex regulatory landscape, as well as delivering consistent high-quality production processes, in which it is crucial to adhere to strict standards. 

We make sure that costly delays, legal issues and all other associated risks are mitigated. As an experienced global manufacturer, Rosti is able to scale up production to meet demand while maintaining consistent quality. 

We view innovation as highly important, and our three strategically located innovation centres make us a strong partner in the innovation and design phase, which drastically reduces time to market.

How important is it for a contract manufacturer to have a global footprint?

With the same quality and standards across all our sites, we can speak to customers
in one voice and give them one contact for our entire organisation. Moreover, a global footprint and a ‘One Rosti’ organisation enables us to help customers access and enter new markets, find optimal
and diversified supply chain solutions and minimise the risk of supply chain disruptions. Calling on local presence and expertise in all the main medical markets in the world, we provide a deeper understanding of the regional regulations, standards and market preferences.

How does Rosti’s global technology roadmap help to bring new technologies to a technically ready stage more quickly?

We have continuously invested time, money, and engineering expertise to develop and enhance our roadmap. We use an established technology readiness levels (TRLs) development process, originally developed by Nasa, to show how mature a technology is and when it can be used in production. It rigorously scrutinises each developmental stage to ensure only the best-fit and commercially viable are put into production.

Rosti works across many industries, but what makes it a good partner for life sciences companies?

Our in-house knowledge of the regulatory environment in key markets helps our customers to navigate a highly complex regulatory landscape. As a leading medical CDMO, our aim is to support our customers from concept to reality, be a trusted partner in navigating the medical landscape and bring market leading innovation to our customers.