Medical & Healthcare

Matsuura Machinery USA Inc., St. Paul, Minn., which develops high-speed machining and manufactures automated, unmanned, high-accuracy CNC machine tools, has announced a number of personnel appointments.

END USER: Northeast Tool & Manufacturing, (704) 882-1187, www.northeasttool.us. SOLUTION PROVIDER: MachineMetrics, (413) 341-5747, www.machinemetrics.com. CHALLENGE: Reduce the time and manual inspection required to measure productivity. SOLUTION: A machine monitoring system.

Until a couple of years ago, the Food and Drug Administration required a unique identifier on each distinct assembly of a medical device in human- and machine-readable forms. That rule has changed. Now, every individual component in an assembly must be marked as well.

Low-wattage lasers are faster, gentler and more eco-friendly than traditional parts-cleaning methods. So why aren't they more prevalent?

As a precision sheet metal machining technology, photo etching achieves exacting tolerances, is highly repeatable and in many instances is the only technology that can cost-effectively manufacture precision metal components with the accuracy necessary in demanding and often safety critical applications.

GF Machining Solutions LLC, Lincolnshire, Ill., has named Ellison Technologies Inc., Los Angeles, as its distributor to serve customers in two regions in the upper Midwest.

Optoflash is the newest and fastest addition to the Marposs' optical measuring line and can measure small-size shafts, fasteners and dental implants. Its robust external structure allows the Optoflash to perform static and dynamic measurements in the production environment with the same quality as it does in the lab, according to the company.

For today's manufacturers of precision components, there's no getting around deburring, rounding and polishing. These production steps are often seen as a necessary evil due to the high costs associated with them in some cases. Use of the right technology permits reliable processing at reduced costs.

The 6 S system is a modified version of the lean manufacturing principle of 5 S. Developed by Taiichi Ohno, an industrial engineer for Toyota, lean production is a systemic method designed to optimize the efficiency of a business.

Stents and tubes are used in countless medical devices and new ones are being added every day, fueled in part by the growth of minimally invasive surgery and the commonplace use of stents.

Every so often a job or part geometry comes along where it would be helpful to have a few extra inches in a machine's work envelope, or perhaps a little higher rpm or an additional spindle. At these and certain other times, it might be worth considering a custom machine.

Skills Inc. is a unique nonprofit manufacturing company that serves the aerospace industry and is dedicated to helping people with disabilities thrive in today's manufacturing environment.