August 2007 - CTMA: The Canadian Tooling and Machining ...

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MEDICAL DESIGN & MANUFACTURING
By: Emerson Suphal, ESS Business Strategies
Robert Cattle, MicroMetric Ltd.
We were very pleased to represent the CTMA at the
Medical Design & Manufacturing Technology Show in
New York, NY (June 11-15, 2007) that had more than
950 exhibitors and attracted over 50,000 visitors. The
show provided us with the opportunity to review
technologies used in the manufacture of medical devices
to determine how compatible they are with those in our
industry & identify potential opportunities for companies
in the tooling & machining sector. We also attempted to
identify and evaluate potential opportunities and
strategic alliances for technology transfer to/from the
medical devices sector.
The Medical Design & Manufacturing Technology Show
consisted of companies exhibiting products and services
for medical device product development. They included
medical-grade materials, components, electronics,
computer-aided design and manufacturing, production
and automation machinery, packaging, sterilization,
quality systems, contract manufacturing services,
networking, and enterprise IT.
Technologies: Companies exhibited a wide range of
technologies. Some of them are compatible with our
membership areas of expertise. CTMA members will be
familiar with the following:
• CNC Machine Tooling / Machining Centers / EDM &
Accessories (32 companies)
• Component Fabrication including metal (198 comps.)
• Laminating & Die Cutting (49 companies)
Almost all of the technologies presently used by CTMA
members in their manufacturing processes are found in
the medical devices sector including: machining (&
micro-machining), laser cutting, metal stamping, metal
heat-treating, metal finishing (plating, anodizing),
grinding, drilling, boring, welding and assemblies.
Products: The following product categories fall into
core competencies of some of our CTMA members and
they would be familiar with them, although not as they
apply to medical devices:
• Automation Equipment (56 companies)
• Metal Components (137 companies)
• Molding Equipment (86 companies)
• Precision Cutting Tools (44 companies)
• Precision Machining (84 companies)
• Rapid Prototyping Machines (20 companies)
• Specialty Metals / Alloys (48 companies)
• Welding Services (45 companies)
There were many other product categories represented
that are close to our members’ core competencies but
space does not permit us to list them all here.
POTENTIAL OPPORTUNITIES’ ASSESSMENT
It is common knowledge that the medical devices
industry is on a high growth trajectory given the
demographic trend in North America. While there are
many common technologies between CTMA members
and the medical device industry, there are also very
significant differences in operating standards and
controls. Technologies and manufacturing processes
used in the development and manufacturing of some
medical devices and medical devices production
equipment would be familiar to our membership. Indeed
some of them fall into the core competency area of our
member firms.
We found a number of metal stampers and CNC
machined component suppliers at the show who made a
transition to the medical devices sector from other
sectors over a few years. It took deliberate strategies to
convert and adjust their modes of operation to the
medical device market. In many cases, there is an
extremely high barrier to entry for a company with no
previous experience supplying products / services to this
industry. Issues such as very clean production
environments, quality standards, tolerances &
documentation are some of the concerns to be
addressed in order to supply to the medical devices
sector. Production volumes are low although with
relatively higher value.
Since medical devices & equipment cover a wide range
of materials and design, any attempt to get into this
sector will require careful research and analysis to
identify a niche which will contribute to long term
profitable growth. While opportunities exist for CTMA
members in the medical devices sector, it is long term
and requires a deliberate effort and commitment to
search for and find that first customer to get a ‘foot in the
door’, while simultaneously adapting their production
facilities and processes to medical devices standards.
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4 CTMA VIEW – August 2007