The Medica/CompaMed trade fair is one of the largest exhibitions of medical devices, healthtech, and wellness products in the world. In addition to the finished device OEMs, a significant number of supply chain partners that support those companies also exhibit at the event. Combined, visitors can typically find anything they are seeking, from drug delivery innovations to hospital beds to component fabrication service providers. Regardless of where someone is in the care chain, the event should prove useful to all.

Unfortunately, because so many companies are showcasing their products and capabilities at the event, it’s nearly impossible to meet with every organization that might add value. Therefore, MPO has spoken with several exhibitors who are prepared and capable of serving medical device manufacturers looking for new or specialized partners to address the challenges they are currently facing or expect to face on future projects. The following “From the Booth” feature with Mike Hardock, chief commercial officer at Resonetics, will offer insights on whether you are the right fit to collaborate.

Sean Fenske: What technology or service are you emphasizing at Medica/CompaMed this year?

Mike Hardock: We’ll be discussing our comprehensive global capabilities with attendees. We have extensive nitinol capabilities, where we melt raw material to produce sheet, wire, and tube for sale in the market. We also supply our own facilities for further processing of the metal, ultimately providing finished tubes or components to our OEM medical customers. Resonetics also specializes in stainless-steel tube drawing, component manufacturing, and post-processing. We operate nine LightSpeed Labs worldwide to support our customers with quick-turn prototyping, enabling quick iteration for faster time to market. Additionally, we manufacture fiber optic sensors and implantable batteries.

For customers who require assistance with full medical device design, our AGILE Product Development team has extensive expertise in start-to-finish design for various medical devices. They can also bring the complete devices into volume production in one of our own sites. We recently acquired Eden Manufacturing and Eden Tool, which specialize in micro-molding (insert and overmolding), as well as tool design and manufacturing. This is a great complement to our metal component manufacturing capabilities.

Fenske: What’s the most common challenge customers inquire about and how do you address it?

Hardock: I wouldn’t say there is a single common challenge from our customers. It really varies depending on the product and technologies involved. Sometimes, there are technical issues; other times, it’s lead time or time to market; and sometimes, it’s scaling from NPI to volume manufacturing. Resonetics has solutions for all of these areas. We have technical expertise across our manufacturing offerings and are always ready to work with customers to improve their products, make them more manufacturable, and reduce costs. Our LightSpeed Labs enable quick iterations to help with lead times and time to market. We’re committed to investing in our growth and our customers’ growth. By working closely together, we ensure we have the resources—people, space, and equipment—in place to meet the manufacturing volumes needed for components, subassemblies, or full devices.

Fenske: If you could give one piece of advice to companies seeking a manufacturing partner before they make a decision, what would it be?

Hardock: Ensure the company you choose has not only the technical capabilities to work with you on your project, but also the scale to help support you at various phases. That can mean anything from quick turn prototyping through NPI and validation and into volume manufacturing. It can also include the need to scale to high volumes. Identifying a partner willing to invest in the necessary resources to get there is essential.

It is also important to ensure there is a good relationship and cultural fit between the two organizations. There are always bumps in the road when launching or building products, and you need a strong relationship with your supply partner so you can navigate challenges together to ensure success.

Fenske: What are the forces driving medical device manufacturers to seek your technology/services over doing it in-house?

Hardock: It varies depending on the product or service being considered, but generally it comes down to resources and capabilities. Many of our OEM customers want to keep their core technologies in-house but outsource areas where we have the expertise, people, processes, and equipment needed for success. Many medical companies already have sites and capabilities but prefer not to add personnel or facilities for processes that can be outsourced to a company like ours, which has both the capacity and expertise to deliver results. For example, we control the entire nitinol process from melting to complex component manufacturing, and if customers do not already have that expertise, it makes sense to partner with a company like Resonetics that does.

Fenske: In what ways is your company able to aid in getting a product (project) to market faster?

Hardock: As I mentioned previously, our LightSpeed Labs are designed to help our customers iterate quickly so they can shorten their product’s time to market. We are stocking more raw tube sizes, which cuts out a significant portion of the tube and component development timeline for our customers.

Our AGILE Product Development team has extensive experience with interventional device design and can support various aspects of design work to achieve a robust and manufacturable design. We also have deep experience with implantable batteries and sensors, allowing customers to hit the ground running when developing a new device that needs to incorporate these technologies.

Our global sales organization is always available to meet with customers to discuss projects and explore how we can help accelerate their product development timeline.

Resonetics is located at Medica/CompaMed in Hall 8B, Booth/Stand J24.