Riverside Medical Packaging Company Ltd.

As a supplier of machines dedicated to medical packaging and as part of the Riverside Medical Packaging group shawpak have been uniquely positioned to adapt our technology to design and build PPE manufacturing equipment along with offering standard shawpak thermoformers for the packaging of COVID vaccines.

During the pandemic shawpak have been involved in designing and building machines to manufacture millions of face shields, in support of Riverside’s other divison AMD we have manufactured machines to assemble and package drug delivery devices that have been supplied to health care organisations directly supporting the care of covid patients.

More recently shawpak have been asked to supply several of our rotary thermoformers on a short lead time to be commissioned and ready to package millions of covid vaccines upon clinical trial approval.

The shawpak team are extremely proud to have the opportunity and work so closely in helping to fight COVID-19 in multiple ways helping our customers and partners fight the pandemic both domestically and internationally.

Research and development has been at the forefront of Riverside Medical’s cutting-edge work since 1978. Initially specialising in bespoke medical packaging, the company has grown, and they now have another facility called Shawpak - specialising in the design and engineering of medical machinery. Now proud owners of two Kimla CNC routers, we spoke with Alan Wade, Works & Engineering Director, about the company’s growth, and how the CNC routers have become “an integral part of the business”. 

“Over a few months we began to realize there’s a lot more we can do on the Kimla CNC routers. It has become integral to the business and the production of the Shawpak machines” Alan Wade Works & Engineering Director 

 Expansion into machinery concept design and manufacture has resulted in rapid growth for Riverside Medical, with the creation of Shawpak. Having just opened a new sales office in America, Alan explained that, “what has helped us get to this point, and will help us to continue to grow the business, is the investment in machinery”. Initially looking for a robust machine to process dibond panels for the interior of their new Shawpak facility, Alan and the team researched several UK and European CNC suppliers. 

“We’ve had to think outside the box and have a look globally at what machines are out there to support the growth of the business” – Alan Wade 

“It’s not about the cost of the machine, it’s about the heritage, longevity, and availability. Hence, it’s not buying cheap, it’s buying what’s right, and the cost is secondary” - Alan Wade 

One of the machines they researched was the Kimla CNC router from Daltons Wadkin. The multi-purpose capabilities of the Kimla BPF CNC router make it suitable for almost any business working with wood, MDF, Plywood, aluminium and composites, cardboard, and plastics - to name a few. After a few months of processing dibond and aluminium panels, Alan explained that the Kimla CNC had ‘exceeded expectations’ as they realised the capabilities of the machine. This resulted in the purchase of a second Kimla CNC router in 2020, with an array of optional extras to ensure efficient production and operation. 

“Over a few months we began to realize there’s a lot more we can do on the Kimla CNC routers. It has become integral to the business and the production of the Shawpak machines” – Alan Wade 

Now with two Kimla CNC routers installed, Shawpak can produce both prototypes and finished medical machinery for market. Alan explains that all Shawpak machines are made up of separate aluminium plates which are then bolted together. With the Kimla software, operators can nest together all the parts onto sheets of aluminium, sometimes up to 40mm thick. “We have the templates for all the parts available to then nest together in various shapes and sizes, so we’re ahead of the game. The software that came with the Kimla is very easy to use”. Daltons Wadkin give certificated CNC training to operators as standard with Kimla CNC installations. 

Riverside Medical Packaging Company Ltd were given the opportunity and challenge of producing over 6 million face shields between August and December 2020 to meet small and large customer orders.
 
Ramping up the production of face shields meant Riverside Medical Packaging Ltd needed to design and build 2 brand new Face Shield Manufacturing Machines and give commitment to the meeting the demand of the largest customers.
 
Shawpak is the engineering division of Riverside Medical Packaging Ltd and led the design and build of the Face Shield Machines. With the dedication of the design, manufacturing and engineering teams the two machines were completed and in production within just 6 weeks. This is a phenomenal achievement and one that has shown the grit and determination of the whole team when faced with such a huge challenge.
 
In such extremely challenging times the design team have had agility, flexibility and speed to create such unique and important machines.
 
“Starting from a blank sheet of paper, everyone worked as a team to pick up the challenge to design and build two new machines and complete the job in record time – just six weeks. The result has been extremely impressive and one that we are all proud of – the machines are running reliably 24 hours a day, with higher production rates than forecast, whilst producing high quality face shields to meet the demand of both small and large orders in the fight against Covid19.” Ivor Rowe the technical manager at Shawpak.  
 
After the face shield machines were designed these were then manufactured in house at Shawpak’s extensive machine shop. The recent investment of over £2m in the facility and machining centres including the five-axis Chiron milling machine and two high speed flat-bed router cutters meant our experienced workshop engineers could meet such complex designs and the high volume of parts required in a short space of time.
 
David Shaw, CEO of Riverside Medical Packaging “Riverside Medical Packaging Ltd has always invested in the engineering side of the business and understood the importance of this to support our customers, it has helped us grow from a small medical pouch making business in the 1980’s to the business we are today supplying millions of pouches to the medical industry along with high quality contract packing, medical device manufacture and more recently in the design and development of the revolutionary shawpak medical thermoform packaging machine range.
 
When tasked with supplying millions of face shields with a very short lead time I felt confident that the team at Riverside Medical Packaging Ltd and shawpak would  succeed in sourcing the raw materials to make the shields as well as developing the equipment to manufacture them. Producing the machines and sourcing all materials in order to meet the high demand in 6 weeks is veryimpressive”-
 
The capacity of both shield machines means Riverside are able to produce 1 ½ million shields per month. Thousands of shields have already been made and sent out to various customers.