Japanese stainless steel producer Nippon Kinzoku Co., Ltd. has announced that it has started mass production of its ultra-thin and narrow-width stainless steel optimized for laser welding in ultra-fine insulin needles, establishing a stable supply system in response to growing global demand.
The company said demand for increasingly fine insulin needles is rising as manufacturers seek to reduce pain and bruising during injections. Ultra-fine 30G, 31G and 32G needles are becoming more widely adopted, supported by increasing use of compact pen injectors and weight-management medications that also use ultra-fine needles.
New material supports shift to laser welding
According to Nippon Kinzoku, insulin needle tubes have traditionally been manufactured from 0.2 mm-thick base material using TIG or plasma welding, followed by repeated drawing and heat treatment to achieve the required dimensions.
However, manufacturers are increasingly adopting laser welding to meet growing global demand. The technology allows significantly higher welding speeds while enabling the use of base materials that are more than 50% thinner from the initial production stage.
Following trials conducted with leading manufacturers, Nippon Kinzoku has established mass production of material with a representative thickness of just 0.08 mm and width of 6.3 mm, compared with 0.2 mm thickness and 12.8 mm width for its representative TIG and plasma welding material.
Company targets stable production of ultra-fine needles
Nippon Kinzoku said its new material provides controlled edge quality to minimize welding defects and maintains consistent weldability across coils of up to 4,000 meters. The product also offers high-precision thickness and width tolerances required for high-speed laser welding and sufficient workability to enable drawing into ultra-fine needles without fracture.
The company already supplies its NK-304NKM specialized stainless steel for thin-walled welded tubes used in medical and cosmetic applications, particularly so-called painless needles.
