News: Sandvik invests in rapid capabilities at Rotherham facility

Recognising the importance of innovation and speed to market as key differentiators for medical device manufacturers, Sandvik has invested in their rapid prototyping and rapid production capabilities at the Sandvik European Centre of Excellence (SECoE) at Beighton Link Business Park in Rotherham.

Sandvik provides a comprehensive range of capabilities, making it possible for original equipment manufacturer (OEMs) to explore designs and trial prototypes quickly and easily as well as manufacture small numbers of specialised or specific products in a short timeframe.

The Rotherham facility has an area dedicated to rapid production and prototyping for the development and manufacture of orthopedic implants, instruments and medical material. It now includes a recently acquired DMLS (direct metal laser sintering) machine, a Thermojet wax printer and an Objet resin printer.

John Reynolds special projects manager at Sandvik said: "Prototyping is an important stage in the creation of a new device, since it provides the opportunity to explore the design and make the necessary adjustments prior to full production.

"Many medical device OEMs may also require very small production runs; this may be because only ten or 20 units of particular large, high value implants are required in a year or development parts are required for inspection and analysis.

"To be competitive and succeed in the long term OEMs need to work with organisations with the experience, skills and capability to support these requirements; our program of investment coupled with our commitment to always deliver tangible commercial benefits to medical device OEMs means we are positioned to support their requests."

In each rapid prototyping project, Sandvik works directly with the OEM's CAD (computer aided design) drawing to find the most suitable rapid prototyping technique.

Using the Thermojet wax printer saves a valuable 17% of the time taken by traditional methods of prototype manufacture. The printer creates a wax pattern for analysis from which cast parts can be manufactured.

The Objet resin printer produces three dimensional patterns and models in polymer materials from layers as small as 16 microns. Production of cast samples takes just 65% of the time taken using traditional methods and the speed of tool production is particularly impressive, taking just 20% of the time of standard methods.

Sandvik is also leveraging its long experience within powder metallurgy to exploit the powder-based technique used by the DMLS machine to manufacture to almost any design.

John added: "We can also now manufacture almost any design the OEM can create, irrespective of the complexity of the geometry. This means our customers' design teams are not constrained by the manufacturing limitations previously typical in the industry. They have the flexibility to respond with precision to the individual preferences of any one surgeon or the specific needs of a patient.

"Looking ahead we will continue to develop new processes and procedures, exploiting both our long standing commitment to R&D and materials expertise, to the benefit of our customers. Indeed, Sandvik invests 3% of the Group's total sales in R&D."

Sandvik website

Images: sandvik.com