It is hard to believe that our first MDM West show was in 1985 in the parking lot of the Disneyland® Hotel. With only two weeks until MDM West 2026 in Anaheim, CA, we are looking forward to another successful tradeshow. Our medical division accounts for over 30% of our business and remains our most significant growth driver, with growth exceeding 16%.
Apple Rubber stays committed to the medical industry. We continue to listen to our customers and are adding growing requirements to ship products to our most loyal customers across all continents. Given the medical industry’s high RFQ conversion rate, we expect continued growth in 2026.
Final component cleaning before parts leave our door has always been key for our medical customers. We continue to fine-tune our process to meet growing requirements. The addition of our Sprayflood washer has increased throughput while meeting high standards of cleanliness. Our medical qualification engineer has done testing to ensure parts meet various customer-specified standards. She even wrote a great article highlighting some of this testing, Apple Rubber’s Cleanroom and Purified Water Verification.
Apple Rubber polymer chemists have been hard at work developing new compounds to meet USP and USP, while also testing to some of the ISO 10993 standards. We now have ethylene/propylene (EPDM) compounds in 50, 70, and 80 Shore A durometers. All are designed to meet the stringent German KTW list but are biologically tested to USP Class VI standards. Using the KTW list helps ensure that we not only meet U.S. FDA regulations but also comply with any EU restrictions on the use of chemicals. Also finalized is our 75 Shore A peroxide-cured high-fluorine FKM compound. This compound provides lower friction, while giving higher chemical resistance and better steam resistance than standard FKMs.
Our Liquid Silicone Rubber (LSR) division was founded in 1994 and improves each year. We continue to replace older equipment with the most up-to-date injection, pumping, and robotic equipment. Our owner, Steven Apple, is committed to high precision, enabling us to invest in the most advanced equipment to deliver the highest-quality parts. Working with all the major suppliers of LSR, we can offer our customers previously approved materials in their systems to speed up the approval process, or the latest advancements from these vendors.
We are continuously evaluating new coatings to reduce friction in customer applications or in automated assembly systems. In many applications, friction can bring a project to a halt, so finding the best solution that enables LSR use, with its broad versatility, is critical.
Project engineers continue to outperform when working on EARs (Engineering Action Requests) with both new and existing customers. The medical industry remains one of our best sources of new business. Our engineers not only assist customers with seal and groove design but also provide the best input on automation and material compatibility. Our O-ring Gland Calculator is a big hit with many designs on new projects and for evaluating improvements to old applications. In the new year, we will continue to explore new tools that can also assist with this process. By molding our medical parts at our plant in Lancaster, NY, we can increase U.S.-made content to mitigate new tariffs.
We look forward to this year’s show and to continuing our growth in the medical industry. Of course, we still appreciate the many other industries we support, such as the automotive, defense, and industrial sectors.