Originally Published MPMN October
2004
MD&M Minneapolis
First Time Exhibitors
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Acsion Reaches Out to Engineers and OEMs
“Ready for prime time” is the way account executive Lu Ann Sidney
describes the feeling at Acsion (Pinawa, MB, Canada) about being a first-time
exhibitor at MD&M Minneapolis. At the show, Acsion will let attendees know
about its contract sterilization services and E-beam accelerator. The company
would like to reach out to quality assurance professionals who make decisions
about sterilization vendors, but also wants to educate the medical device industry
about material-selection issues. “We want to reach engineers in the early
stages of designing and make sure they consider designing products for E-beam
sterilization,” says Sidney.
Acsion was formed in 1998 out of a Canadian national laboratory and grew to
provide repair services to the aerospace industry and radiation sterilization
services to the healthcare industry. Its national lab roots give the company
a personalized service, as well as materials-testing and analytical capabilities.
Acsion provides bioburden reduction and cross-linking services to the medical
products industry, in addition to E-beam sterilization. Validation, expert advice,
and consultation are all additional services the company offers.
There is a demand for E-beam sterilization and limited access to linear accelerators.
Acsion meets that demand with its new, state-of-the-art accelerator. As the
business grows, the company may move in the direction of also providing assembly
or packaging services.
The company is working hard these days to make its presence known at shows such
as MD&M and others in Medical Alley. It hopes to create more business opportunities
with its traditional customers, and also make contact with OEMs for potential
partnerships to provide full services. “The Minneapolis–St. Paul area
has been overlooked for a long time and the base of technical expertise is unbelievable,”
according to Sidney. “There is plenty of opportunity and Acsion sees that.”
www.acsion.com
Booth #853
Micro Control Is Ready to Assist with Electronic Manufacturing Services
It’s impressive to be able to offer quality contract electronic manufacturing
with fast turnaround to the medical device industry. Micro Control Co. (Minneapolis)
goes above and beyond to also offer design and assembly services. The company
prides itself on vertical integration; mechanical and electronic engineers work
beside manufacturers in the in-house machine and sheet-metal shops to meet customers’
needs with full services and high standards of quality.
Started in 1972 by the present owner, Micro Control provided test equipment
for memory boards and devices to the electronics industry. The company continues
to offer test equipment and burn-in systems for the semiconductor industry,
but expanded in 1994 to offer contract electronic manufacturing services to
other markets. Micro Control’s capabilities include high-speed surface-mount,
through-hole, and mixed technologies; BGA placement with x-ray inspection; BGA
rework; mechanical/box build; and large, high-density printed circuit boards.
“We have customers for whom we manufacture circuit boards for prototyping
of implantable equipment, and we deal a lot with prototypes for medical usage
of circuit boards,” says manager of electronics manufacturing Rafael Iglesias,
“but we’d like to show the community that we have the capacity to
assist anyone.”
The ISO 9001:2000–compliant company chose to educate MD&M attendees
about its electronic manufacturing services because of its desire to continue
expanding its client base. Micro Control exhibits at other trade shows throughout
the year, but wants MD&M Minneapolis visitors to know it is a local company
and everything needed to complete manufacturing jobs is locally obtained.
www.microcontrol.com
Booth #649
Air Squared Showcases Scroll Compressors for a New Audience
Manufacturer Air Squared (Hamilton, OH) has been attending trade shows
for about five years, including the MD&M East and West shows, in an effort
to meet new customers. In addition to its Ohio offices, the company has manufacturing
facilities in Broomfield, Colorado. An interest in increasing exposure in the
Midwest has led to its presence at the MD&M Minneapolis show.
Air Squared makes scroll-type air compressors, vacuum pumps, and expanders,
primarily for medical OEMs. The scroll design enables clean, oil-free compressed
air, high efficiency, and low noise for medical applications such as ventilators,
portable oxygen concentrators, nebulizers, and dialysis equipment. The company
began custom designing and licensing scroll technology for the medical industry
in 1991, branching out 10 years later to accommodate its customers by manufacturing
scroll devices. Visitors to Air Squared’s MD&M Minneapolis booth can
view its scroll compressors and vacuum pumps.
According to president Robert Shaffer, Air Squared is most proud of its small,
efficient scroll compressors. “Scroll compressors become more difficult
to manufacture as they get smaller,” he explains. “Air Squared has
developed proprietary technology that enables us to make a small, efficient
compressor at a competitive cost.”
Air Squared has contracted for the development of small, injection-molded compressors
for medical applications. Future initiatives include expanding into other areas
such as fuel cells. Manufacturing capabilities will broaden as its clientele
base grows. The company owns eight patents and has applied for two more. It
is currently preparing two patents covering scroll improvements that make the
scroll cost-competitive and practical to manufacture.
www.airsquared.com
Booth #1751
Sanbor Medical Plans for Growth with New Facilities and Certifications 
Before establishing its medical division a year ago, Sanbor Corp. was primarily
focused on serving the appliance, automotive, and electronics industries. But
increasing sales prompted the company to form Sanbor Medical (Allentown,
PA). “Sales to medical device manufacturers have grown to about 10% of
the company’s business over the past 10 years,” says Joseph F. Horvath,
vice president of sales and marketing. The division is now geared up and ready
to grow.
Sanbor Medical is a fully integrated manufacturer, with design and production
capabilities for custom cable and cable assemblies, printed circuit board assembly,
injection and insert molding, and system assembly and subassembly. The division
is ISO 9000 certified, and is pursuing ISO 13485 certification. In November,
Sanbor will move production from its current facility in Xiamen, China, to a
new 130,000-sq-ft location nearby. It plans to install a Class 100,000 cleanroom
production area and seek FDA registration for the facility.
Though its production facility is in China, Sanbor Medical is a U.S. corporation.
So while products are made offshore, “our liabilities and customer accountability
are here in the United States,” says Horvath. Numerous levels of IP confidentiality
are built into the Sanbor system for the protection of the customer. The company
has U.S.-based engineering, project management, sales, customer service, logistics
(with a Los Angeles distribution center), and accounting functions.
The division’s goal is to grow to be 25 to 30% of Sanbor Corp.’s total
business. “We see a lot of opportunity for Sanbor Medical in certain niches
within the market,” says Horvath. In addition to electronic circuitry,
its smart cables incorporate a number of molded components within the assembly.
“With 17 molding lines and an experienced group of plastics engineers,
we have built an extensive capability in the manufacturing of precision molded
parts,” Horvath says.
The first trade shows for the division were MD&M East in June and OEM New
England in September. At MD&M Minneapolis it will showcase custom cable
assemblies, smart cables, molded components, printed circuit board assemblies,
and subassemblies.
www.sanbor.com
Booth #849
FMEA Software Makers Promise One-Study ROI
Though they are being increasingly embraced by device makers as a valuable
way to maintain product quality, failure modes and effects analysis (FMEA) studies
are grueling and time-consuming work. And up until two years ago, medical device
engineers had nothing beyond spreadsheets to help them get that work done. “At
the time, there wasn’t really anything out there supporting medical manufacturers,”
says Mark Chambers, senior manager of the reliability division of Dyadem
International Ltd. (Toronto, ON, Canada).
Dyadem entered the medical market in early 2001 with the launch of its FMEA
For Medical Devices 5 software, a tool designed specifically for medical device
FMEA. The studies, an ongoing process carried out through the lifetime of a
product, help define process control plans and record and prioritize continuous
improvements.
This has been the company’s first year attending medical trade shows, including
MD&M East and MD&M West. At MD&M Minneapolis, Dyadem will showcase
the newest version of its product, FMEA For Medical Devices 6, launched a year
ago. New features in the upgrade include electronic records and signature capability,
and linking of supporting documents. “Sales are up 140%, compared with
the first year we launched the product,” says Chambers.
The software can reduce FMEA time by 65%, and pays for itself after the first
study. “Do one study with the software, and you’ll see your return
on investment very quickly,” Chambers says. FMEA6 is also intuitive and
easy to learn. According to Chambers, 80% of its users don’t require training,
but he adds that the company maintains a full dedicated client-care group to
assist users. FMEA6 has templates to cover several standards and processes—including
ISO standards, EN standards, MIL-STD-1629A, 510(k) premarket notification, and
FDA quality system requirements—but users can also easily customize their
own templates.
FMEA6 is more expensive than competing products, but the customization features,
reporting capabilities, ease of use, library of generic failure-mode information,
and ability to integrate with third-party products make it the best product
on the market, Chambers insists. “We challenge anyone to find a better
product than ours.” www.dyadem.com
Booth #656
Titanium Stamping Is Business as Usual for Okay Industries
Some of the country’s biggest players in the medical device industry are
located in the Midwest, which is why Okay Industries (New Britain, CT)
is looking forward to being a first-time exhibitor at the MD&M Minneapolis
trade show. Business development manager Jason M. Howey cites the company’s
expertise in stamping titanium as the main reason MD&M Minneapolis visitors
will be interested in visiting the Okay booth.
Titanium components will be on display, and representatives will be on hand
to discuss the company’s stamping knowledge and its assembly and subassembly
services. Okay’s trademarked process of prototyping a component “mirrors
the production process, so there are no worries,” Howey explains. “It’s
prototyped the way it’s going to be made in production, so there are no
headaches.”
The ISO 9002– and QS 9000–certified company has an experienced engineering
and research and design staff, as well as state-of-the-art equipment for prototyping
and production. Okay prides itself on focusing on the initial design phases
but offers full services through production. It also boasts a trademarked application
for converting components into low-cost metal stamping, and a proprietary process
for grinding surgical scissors and knife edges. Stamping press sizes up to 800
tn can be used to produce components for implantable devices and surgical stapling
devices, in addition to surgical cutting instruments, drug-delivery devices,
and other laparoscopic, endoscopic, and arthroscopic applications.
Okay Industries was originally known as B. Jahn Manufacturing. Founded in 1911,
it was one of the largest tool and die shops on the East Coast. It has been
serving the medical device industry since 1977 and is now based out of a 100,000-sq-ft
facility, housing 135 employees. Planning for future endeavors, Howey says the
company is looking more at assembly and titanium expertise for some products
that are machined.
www.okayind.com
Booth #1635
Despite Name Changes, Moog Components Group’s Product Quality Remains
Consistent 
As a division of Moog Inc., Moog Components Group (Blacksburg, VA) has
only been around about a year. But that doesn’t mean it is a new company.
“Our company has been in business for more than 50 years,” says Paul
Murphy, group sales manager of commercial products. “We’re not a new
kid on the block.” However, because the division has been through a variety
of corporate owners in recent years—including acquisitions by Northrop
Grumman in 2001 and Moog Inc. in 2003—maintaining an industry reputation
is a challenge.
Building name recognition for the division, formerly known as Poly-Scientific,
is one reason behind a new focus on industry-specific shows, Murphy says. Exhibiting
at the National Design Engineering Show, part of National Manufacturing Week
in Chicago, has become less productive. “We’ve seen a steady drop
in attendance for more broad-based shows,” says Murphy. “The quality
and quantity of our leads has deteriorated.”
Because medical is the largest and fastest-growing market for Moog Components’s
products—including slip rings and fractional horsepower brushless dc motors—industry
shows are a better fit. Murphy says many of the company’s regular customers
are present at the MD&M West show, where they have been exhibiting for three
years. That show, along with MD&M East and MD&M Minneapolis, will be
the anchor of the company’s trade show activities going forward. “Our
primary market focus for the commercial side of the business is the medical
market,” Murphy says.
At MD&M Minneapolis, Moog Components Group will showcase product expansions.
These include digital drives using the latest digital signal-processing technology
available, and motors with improved efficiency. “We find that in many medical
applications, the efficiency is very critical to promote the longest battery
life,” Murphy says. The company will also display its new miniature slip
ring capsule, which has a through-bore that allows passage of cables through
the center to facilitate mounting of the slip ring in a device.
www.moog.com
Booth #850
Asahi Intecc USA Offers Custom Wire Manufacturing
In 1976, a wire manufacturer for industrial products opened its doors in Japan.
Today, Asahi Intecc USA Inc. (Newport Beach, CA) has a reputation as
one of the main suppliers of wire to the medical industry and boasts ISO 9001,
ISO 13485, and EN 46001 quality management system certification. With more than
1300 employees in Japan, Thailand, and the United States, Asahi Intecc has been
serving the needs of the medical device market for 10 years.
One of the keys to the company’s success is being able to offer high-volume,
full services in wire manufacturing. Asahi Intecc obtained FDA registration
for its Japan and Thailand facilities in order to export raw materials to its
U.S. location. This process cuts down on costs for the company and allows the
U.S. facility to take care of making the finished product to customer specifications,
as well as packaging and sterilization.
On exhibit at the MD&M Minneapolis trade show will be the company’s
most popular product, ACTONE cable tube, a stainless-steel cable with a hollow
structure. The cable offers flexibility, kink-resistance, softness, and high
torque transmission. Asahi Intecc also manufactures precision wire, miniature
wire, miniature coil, torque transmission wire, torque transmission coil, braid-reinforced
catheter tubing, and custom devices. The manufacturer has complete control over
each wire’s mechanical properties, including tensile strength and elongation.
Nitinol ties will also be on display at MD&M.
Yoshi Terai, the company’s president, found the Anaheim and New York MD&M
trade shows to be rewarding experiences, and is looking forward to the Minneapolis
show for the city’s large medical market and potential customer base.
www.asahi-intecc.com
Booth #830
CNC Machine Tools Are Second Nature for Haas Automation
No stranger to trade shows, Haas Automation (Oxnard, CA) makes its
debut at MD&M Minneapolis this year in an effort to reach out to the Midwest
market for CNC machine tools. The largest manufacturer of such machine tools
in the United States, Haas provides milling and turning machines used to shape
metal and other materials for medical device parts. The ISO 9000:2001–certified
company hopes to meet medical device and contract manufacturers who have a design
Haas can turn into a finished product.
Haas will partner with its Minneapolis distributors to present a total of five
machines at the MD&M show, as well as educate attendees about the rest of
its product line. On display will be the TM-1 vertical machining center, a fully
CNC machine without enclosure. The toolroom-series machine has built-in software
with intuitive milling and turning, allowing novice medical companies to make
a smooth transition from manual to CNC processes. Other machines on display
are targeted at companies already familiar with CNC who need high volume and
quick production. Two new machines are very small versions of milling machines
already in existence. The machines are small enough for customers to place in
an office facility with limited space.
Started in 1983, Haas Automation is a relatively young company in terms of machine
tool standards. Spawned from owner and CEO Haas’s design of a product to
increase production in his machine shop, the company began to manufacture products
and expanded from there. Its 820,000 (and growing) employees take pride in having
found a niche in an old market and commanding and maintaining a 40% market share
in the United States, as well as having customers around the world. Haas is
heavily targeting the medical industry lately to develop more niche-type products
that meet the needs of specific device manufacturers.
www.haascnc.com
Booth #1539
