Originally Published MPMN September 2009

MD&M MIDWEST 2009: FIRST-TIME EXHIBITORS

Supplier Hones Medical Device Capabilities

Bob Michaels

When it comes to serving the medical device industry, Trinity Biomedical Inc. (Menomonee Falls, WI) is on a mission to improve the quality of human life. “We believe that we can bring world-class quality to top medical manufacturing and cleanroom assemblies while having a chance to save lives in the process,” says Tom McAdams, general manager of Trinity. To that end, the company specializes in wire forming, automated ultrasonic washing and passivation, cleanroom assembly and packaging, and advanced machining for medical device applications.

Founded by Fred Reich in 1965, Trinity’s parent company, Reich Tool & Design Inc. (RTD), began to receive medical orders soon after its establishment. In the years to come, Reich Tool & Design would grow to provide a range of medical components and services to complement its cleanroom and machining operations, such as medical stampings, fixtures, and gauges; prototyping for manufacturability; reverse engineering; and product R&D.
Following Fred Reich’s retirement in 1999, his sons Fritz and Brett took the helm as president and vice president, respectively, helping to expand the company’s reach into the medical device manufacturing sector. With approximately 30% of RTD’s business concentrated in aerospace, medical, and energy products, the firm recognized the importance of expanding its medical business, according to McAdams. As a result, he joined the Reich brothers in founding Trinity Biomedical in 2008.
“We have spent the last few years honing our skills and assembling a medical manufacturing team to handle the most critical machining, assembly, and medical device projects,” McAdams remarks. With experience in the manufacture of wire forms, cannulae, and guidewires, and in such services as citric passivation and sterilization, the company devotes most of its production output to major research colleges and device companies throughout the country.
Since its inception, the vendor has modernized its equipment base many times over while undertaking several expansions to accommodate its growing business. From the construction of a 2000-sq-ft facility in 1995, the company expanded to 17,000 sq ft in 1998 and again to 23,000 sq ft in 2002. In 2007, the RTD Innovation Center, an ISO 9001:2000–certified facility that houses both RTD and Trinity, opened with 52,000 sq ft of space, including cleanrooms ranging from Class 100,000 to Class 10,000. “At Trinity Biomedical, we are able to rapid prototype a new design or reverse-engineer a product from inception to final packaging within our cleanroom’s large footprint,” McAdams notes. To pursue its mission of saving lives, the company will soon be adding a second cleanroom with approximately 2500 sq ft of Class 10,000 floor space.

Trinity Biomedical Inc.
www.trinitybiomedical.com
Booth #4038

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