At Estes, we offer a variety of services including traditional metal fabrication services, 3D laser welding, and rapid prototyping. Although we manufacture products for a variety of industries, we want to highlight our work in medical device manufacturing.
One of our recent projects involved us helping a client streamline the production of a steel pan. The product in question had been a three-piece, spot welded assembly, which cost $29.65 to produce. Estes’ manufacturing efficiency experts moved the production of the steel pan from a press brake to our Salvagnini forming cell. Because of our modification in process, we were able to consolidate the three separate components into one part that had twelve bends. By making these changes, we eliminated several secondary operations and dropped the overall production costs by 37 percent.
We aren’t alone in our excitement for manufacturing products for the medical industry. In fact, a major conference and exposition, Medical Design and Manufacturing (MD&M) West, is held annually. We’ve attended in the past and found it to be a great way to meet new customers, get re-acquainted with old friends, and learn a host of new information about the medical design and manufacturing sector.
We were hard at work this year, so we missed the event, but we understand from colleagues that more than 2,000 suppliers and thousands of visitors attended MD&M West. It ran from February 11-14. There were some outstanding presentations offered—including two great talks about the future of manufacturing and medical technology from Thomas Frey (The Futurist), and Daniel Kraft, MD (FutureMed). These two talks summed up the conference’s focus on how efficiency and production streamlining will allow medical device manufacturing to survive and thrive in the coming years. These collaborations of ideas among the industry will help secure a future for American manufacturing.
If you want to learn more about our work in the medical equipment field or information on the 2014 MD&M West, please drop us a line or visit our website.
