For medical device OEMS, procuring high-quality components for their product is essential for developing the safest and most effective device. In most cases, this is not going to be as simple as walking into a shop and buying supplies, as many of these components must be customised and optimised for the application. Manufacturers such as Sandvik offer excellent quality wire and expert consultation, but why else does EXERA ® brand medical wire really stand out to OEMS?

Sandvik’s one-stop-shop approach means that OEMS can rely on Sandvik’s team for everything from metal/alloy development to surface treatments, precise cutting and coiling. From the initial consultation regarding what properties they need the wire to feature, to designing, testing, and final development- a finalised component is manufactured by a single manufacturer.

According to Gary Davies, manager at Sandvik Materials Technology’s business unit for medical wire manufacturing: “If a medical device OEM needs to have some material to integrate into their product, they may need to use several subcontractors to get that material into the form that they can use it in. For instance, they may have one wire producer, and another company doing the coiling or stripping of the coating. In this scenario if there’s a quality problem at any stage, it is difficult to pinpoint where the issue began. The subcontractor that’s doing the coiling, stranding or stripping may blame the quality issue on the wire supplier and the wire supplier may blame it on the coiler as an example.”

“In the end, this situation doesn’t benefit the OEM because they just want a good quality product. If they have one source, or a one-stop shop, then they are responsible for the product from beginning to end, including the quality and the performance and the precision that goes into that product.”

As well as saving OEMS from approaching multiple subcontractors to negotiate and explain their end-goal, this solution also ensures full supply chain visibility and consistent quality control.

Davies added: “It helps to cut down on the design process because someone that is doing subcontracting may not have the full list of capabilities that can be provided for the wire. If you’re doing all of those processes under one roof, then this enables design time to be used more efficiently, so the time working with the OEM can be more focussed on consistency and quality.”

With the Exera brand’s extensive capabilities when it comes to high-quality fine medical wire, the customisations offered by this one-stop-shop is endless. Customers choose from a variety of materials, sizes, surface treatments and product forms without the need to consult with multiple subcontractors. Sandvik offers more than 200 alloys, metallurgy experience dating back to 1862, specially designed machinery for precision cutting, a range of polymer insulation and PTFE coatings, electroplating and electropolishing capabilities, customised coiling services and coating stripping services.

For more information about Exera fine medical wire-components, including a full list of materials, customisations and services, or to contact Sandvik about developing a medical field device, visit their website.