Rush-Produced Core Pin Tooling Proves Critical for COVID-19 Test Kit Production

critical tooling for test kits

Crafts Technology is supporting the fight against COVID-19 by rush-producing tungsten carbide core pin tooling to be used in an injection mold to manufacture vials for COVID-19 testing. This core pin tooling, being used in a re-tooled mold, will help significantly increase vial production.

Tungsten carbide is an extremely strong and dense material used for precision core pins in injection molds. The high rigidity, precision, and superior cycle time features of CraftAlloy™ tungsten carbide core pin tooling permit intricate and complex forms with a tolerance of only 50 millionths of an inch, making it ideal for creating core pins for medical applications such as COVID-19 diagnostic items.

In support of their customer Prestige Mold—the producer of high-precision injection molds for medical diagnostic company Hologic—Crafts Technology quickly and effectively manufactured the necessary core pins at rapid speed. Typical leads times run from nine to 12 weeks, but proper planning by Crafts Technology skilled machinists and coordination across the entire company, allowed the team to produce the core pins in only three weeks.

"Once we knew the value of our core pins to the development of COVID-19 test kits, we dropped everything in the hopes of producing them in four weeks, and we did it in three weeks.”

"Never before in our lifetime have we had the opportunity to assist medical tooling and medical diagnostics companies that are at the apex of a solution more than today," Crafts Technology President and CEO Jeff Taylor says. "Once we knew the value of our core pins to the development of COVID-19 test kits, we dropped everything in the hopes of producing them in four weeks, and we did it in three weeks. I'm extremely proud of our team's dedication to this project, taking what seemed to be impossible and making it a reality."

Once manufactured, the team disinfected and securely packaged the core pins to prevent any damage, and then drove them from Elk Grove Village, IL, to Prestige Mold's location in Rancho Cucamonga, CA, to eliminate the possibility of the parts being lost or delayed.

Crafts Technology continues its dedication to supporting all medical product manufacturers and their Tier 1 suppliers in the fight against COVID-19. For projects requiring tungsten carbide cores, inserts, injectors, and other injection mold tooling, Crafts Technology will continue its commitment to expedite core pin production with a four-to-five week turnaround goal instead of the typical nine to twelve weeks.