SAFC invests US$6.25m at Lenexa, US facility
Project supported by economic development grant from Kansas Bioscience Authority
Sigma-Aldrich Group’s custom manufacturing and services division SAFC is to invest US$6.25m to expand its Lenexa facility in Kansas, US and create a global Centre of Excellence for the upstream and downstream production of dry powder media and reagents.
The project, supported by a $250,000 economic development grant from the Kansas Bioscience Authority, will include expanded pin milling and blending capabilities, increasing batch production capacity by 30%. The expansion will be completed by the end of the year.
SAFC previously performed milling operations at three sites using differing milling techniques. Through its Centre of Excellence programme, the company plans to consolidate all milling activity at Lenexa, using proprietary pin milling technology. Pin milling is said to allow greater process control, including temperature, feed rates and milling speed, to provide powder media with increased consistency and performance, compared with other milling methods.
The expansion will include separate areas for Animal Component Free (ACF) and Animal Component Containing (ACC) manufacture, both featuring pin milling technology.
Upon completion, two dedicated manufacturing suites will have the capacity to produce seamless batches of ACF dry powder media in batch sizes ranging from 25 to 4000kg, with customised packaging available for all quantities. A separate dedicated manufacturing suite for ACC dry powder media products will also come on line as part of the expansion.