As people live longer lives, the unfortunate probability of developing chronic illnesses such as diabetes and heart disease rises. However, advances in medical technology, including minimally invasive surgical techniques, can help us remain healthier for longer.
This is one of the main reasons for the increased demand for medical equipment and specialised surgical tools. However, a recent report by GlobalDatai suggests that the rising cost of materials and shortages of components over the last few years have affected the medical device market, leading to healthcare providers proactively reevaluating suppliers.
Receiving outstanding value from your supplier is crucial for customers in a high-inflation environment, and it pays for suppliers to have a positive relationship with their clients.
This is where value-added services can make a difference. These services go beyond the basic offering and aim to provide customers with added convenience, customisation, and value. By enhancing the functionality of core offerings, the supplier can meet the evolving needs of clients to stay competitive in the market.
What value-added services are available?
There are many kinds of value-added services available from medical device providers, including specialist knowledge, custom assembly and prototype production runs. Here are just a few:
Cleanrooms and cleanroom assembly – Cleanrooms offer comprehensive manufacturing, assembly, and packaging services for medical device makers, ensuring quality components and sub-assemblies for OEMs, designers, and researchers. They adhere to strict cleanliness standards for bioburden-sensitive component assembly and certified cleanroom packaging.
Laser and plasma welding – Joins ultra-fine wire components together, especially small diameter medical wire. Implementing this service into the manufacturing process can dramatically minimise lead time and supply chain problems on complex devices. Most common welding projects include stents, hypotubes, guidewires, ball tips, sensors, cannulas, and needles.
Laser marking – Adds unique identifiers to a range of parts. Depth bands can also be added to guidewires, K-wires, and pins to give an end-user visual indication on how far a component can be inserted.
Ink pad printing – Used for a range of medical product marks. Medical-class black ink is used to depth label orthopaedic pins or to issue product number IDs to meet FDA tracking requirements. Catheters, tubing, K-wires, and a range of stainless steel and nitinol components are commonly printed on.
Passivation – The application of a light coat, such as metal oxide, to form a shell that protects guidewires and pins against corrosion. While creating the passive chromium oxide layer, this technique removes any free iron from the surface of stainless steel. Passivation is used on guidewires, K-wires, core wires, coils, mandrels, Steinmann pins, and stylets.
Electropolishing – An electrochemical procedure that shines the surface of a steel by selectively dissolving the high points. Metal is removed from the surface, resulting in a stress and occlusion-free unidirectional pattern. This procedure is applicable to guidewires, K-wires, core wires, coils, mandrels, Steinmann pins, and stylets.
PTFE (Polytetrafluoroethylene) coatings – A versatile coating material, with a wide range of applications due to its hydrophobic, non-wetting, high density, and resistance to high temperatures. Best known for its non-stick qualities (Teflon™), it can be applied using spray or dip technology, with a selection of colours, compositions, and thicknesses.
Wire EDM cutting – Electrical discharge machining (spark machining) is a metal production process that uses electrical discharges to achieve a desired shape. Used to manufacture tooling and fixtures using 3D CAD models and effective for difficult geometries and materials such as nitinol.
How value-added services can reduce complex supply chains
Custom Wire Technologies (CWT) is a leading component manufacturer that offers a range of value-added services to ensure the efficiency and success of its customer’s projects. These include cleanroom assembly, laser and plasma welding, laser marking, ink pad printing, custom guidewire assemblies, and passivation.
“Often customers aren’t aware of the exact processes needed to produce their products,” notes Jim Boldig, CWT director of sales and engineering. “CWT can help break down and identify the proper steps to successfully manufacture the components. Vertical integration is essential, so it is important to have as many services as possible in-house to be most efficient for the customer, who doesn’t like complex supply chains and long lead times.”
While CWT provides their customers with all the traditional services, they also have the experience to tackle more complex devices.
“We have custom assembly services in our ISO Class 7 cleanroom,” says Boldig, “and laser and plasma welding workstations join metal-based components; soldering and adhesive bonding stations join dissimilar materials. Additionally, our ink-pad printing equipment, within our cleanroom, is available for sensitive projects. Printing is advantageous over other methods when the substrate is extremely thin or fragile. We also have printing equipment outside of the cleanroom to support rapid prototyping.”
Further, CWT has recently invested in a new 500 sq. ft. washroom where most of its ultrasonic cleaning will take place, along with citric passivation.
Laser marking
One of the latest innovations at CWT is laser marking. First offered five years ago as a limited service, the department has now tripled in size due to increased demand. Laser marking is utilised most by the grinding department for depth markers, part identifiers, part numbers, lot numbers, and UDI codes. Depth markers give end users anatomically correct location marks, with customisable size and fonts, and additional ability to mark logos and barcodes.
Orthopaedics is the most popular use for laser marking, however Boldig says that some cardiovascular and neurovascular guidewires are also utilising the technology.
CWT also provides services that depend on partnerships with other local and regional component processors, offering wire EDM cutting, electropolishing, and PTFE coating. Boldig notes: “These unique collaborations offer some of the best technical know-how in the medical device industry. Being within our geographic region, we can cut lead times and costs, reducing inefficiencies.”
To learn more about CWT services, download the whitepaper below.
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