How welding jobshops can get their share of the lucrative medical-manufacturing market.

Laser welding's flexibility, precision and cost-effectiveness make it ideal for processing medical parts, reports EB Industries.

EB Industries has installed each of its lasers in individual rooms. This lets the company ensure a clean environment for medical jobs and a safe workplace for its operators.

Aging Baby Boomers are keeping medical manufacturers and their suppliers busy welding orthopedic implants, surgical tools, and other medical devices. But winning the work isn't easy, according to Jim Fox, manager of laser services at EB Industries, Farmingdale, N.Y. He says shops have to offer the right combination of technical expertise and value-added services to deal with all the production challenges involved.

Take material challenges, for instance. Medical components such as surgical tools and implantable medical devices are made from tough-to-weld materials such as 304L and 316L stainless steel and 6ALV4 titanium. Joining these materials demands the use of extremely precise technologies, such as laser and electron beam (EB) welding.

The welding shop mainly uses EB welding for aerospace work. However, it has some limited medical applications involving high-carbon, high-hardness stainless steels that don't lend themselves to laser processing. "These alloys include 455 and 465 stainless," comments Fox. "They're crack-sensitive with a laser, but they can be EB welded."

Outside of such jobs, EB Industries uses laser welding because of its flexibility, cost-effectiveness, and precision. Currently, the company uses lasers manufactured by Raytheon, Trumpf, and Lumonics. Each laser offers specific qualities and capabilities.

The 4-axis Raytheon and Trumpf lasers handle most of EB Industries' medical work. The Lumonics systems, on the other hand, are for laser hermetic sealing (laser welding inside a controlledenvironment "glovebox"). These lasers have allowed EB Industries to expand into the microelectronics, fiberoptic, and implantable device industries.

More medical challenges
In addition to the material challenges, shops servicing the medicalmanufacturing industry also have to deal with complex part geometries. "Often, medical parts are delicate, and many have machined details," comments Fox. "If you hit the detail while you're welding, you'll end up scrapping the part."

For that reason, he recommends shops focus on making good welds rather than obsessing about cycle times. "Cycle times are important," Fox acknowledges, "because that's how you make a profit. But these parts are valuable and must be done correctly."

Medical components may also call for elliptical welds, which can be tricky, owing to the odd shapes and welding angles involved. For such jobs, it is important to slow the operator down so he tracks joints exactly.

Finally, shops must contend with cleanliness and cosmetic appearance issues. These are critical when working with medical parts, so shops should pay close attention to the environment in which they're welding, the shielding gases they're using, and even how they handle parts.

Medical services
According to Fox, there's plenty of medical work out there. EB Industries has had a lot of success with orthopedic implants, and that work is growing "exponentially," he says. The company tackles workloads from onepiece prototype runs up to full production runs. Typical lots sizes run from 40 to 200 units, although EB Industries is fully capable of production runs in the tens of thousands.

With all this going on, the greatest challenge the company faces is maintaining a high level of service while dealing with this ever-increasing workload. "Growth in both volume and part complexity puts the pressure on us across the board," he says. "We have to treat each customer like it's the only one. It doesn't matter if we're producing one prototype or thousands of parts. We have to come up with welding procedures and changes in the process to accommodate what the customer needs. And we must be responsive to the customer in terms of both service and delivery."

The key to outstanding service, says Fox, is finding economical and practical ways to do customer jobs. "You can't tell customers that you can't work with a material or a design. You have to be innovative. In some cases, you may suggest a material change that will make a job more weldingfriendly. Sometimes the customer can make the change. Sometimes it can't. Then it's up to you, the welder, to step up and get the job done."

With large customers, Fox suggests "guiding" the process by getting to know the company's R&D personnel. "Designers call me to answer questions about how a part will be welded before they finish their designs. I can also answer questions about the best material to use. It's a huge advantage to be up to speed on their level."

For more information on EB Industries, go to ebindustries.com. The company can also be reached at 888-468-1991.