Festo is expanding its portfolio to include multilayer manifolds made of plastic (bonded manifolds) in order to be able to offer manufacturers of medical and laboratory equipment solutions from a single source. To this end, Festo is taking over the production systems and processes for manufacturing these complex plastic manifolds from Carville, a leading company in this field.
The British company Carville will cease operations in mid-2024 as the owner is retiring and has not found a successor for the business. This will enable Festo to produce complex plastic manifolds according to the specific requirements of customers in the medical technology and laboratory automation sectors in the future, thereby expanding its portfolio. Multilayer manifolds are key products for the connection of fluidic components and the distribution of liquids and gases in fluidic systems. Compared to conventional tubed or machined systems, they offer the possibility of significantly increasing integration density and process reliability.

Microfluidic solutions as a combination of multilayer manifolds and valves

The highly specialized HADB technology (High Accuracy Diffusion Bonding) used here enables the precise production of manifolds made of acrylic and Ultem and, thanks to the high geometric precision, also allows microfluidic applications to be implemented intelligently. HADB technology leads to competitive advantages, particularly in medical technology, diagnostics and the life sciences. In combination with the media-separated valves of the VYKA, VYKB and VYKC series, Festo can thus offer microfluidic solutions from a single source.