Precision Medical Technologies, Inc. will be exhibiting at the Orthopedic Design & Technology show at the Grand Wayne Center in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The dates for this tradeshow are September 14th and 15th.
Premedtec To Separate Into Two Separate Divisions: Instrument & Implant
Kurt Kamholz, President, and Co-Owner Jeff Thornburgh, announced recently that the decision has been made to separate the Instrument and Implant manufacturing into two separate divisions within Precision Medical Technologies, Inc. Kamholz explained that there are significant differences between the two business and separate objectives that we wish to accomplish. On the Implant side we want to focus attention on minimizing variation in our manufacturing processes. We want to be dropping the piece off the machine complete in one operation with no further processing. The objective will be to reduce the number of job changes and have more continuous running dedicated equipment. We want our engineers and machinist focused on controlling the process, rather then setting up equipment multiple times. This is essential to drive continuous improvement in the area of quality. The Instrument business is different in that it is truly a job by job machining business. The normal instrument order quantities of 10, 20, 50, etc. coupled with the fact that the majority of these items have multiple components, requires constant changes or set-ups on the CNC equipment. That is not to say that process control is not a concern, but the length of run is so short, that critical dimensions are usually checked 100% at the machine, rather then being statistically monitored. Our concentration in the instrument manufacturing area needs to be on consistent set-ups and efficient quality production on the back shifts. We expect this strategy to provide an opportunity to continuously improve quality and thereby reduce costs. The business divisions are initially being staffed separately with an operations manager, a staff of 3-4 manufacturing engineers, and a quality engineer. The operations managers will report directly to the Kamholz, President, and the quality engineers will be reporting to Vickie Adkins, Quality Manager, who will continue to report to the president.
Premedtec Expanding Warsaw Facility
Precision Medical Technologies, Inc. is in the process of expanding its manufacturing facility in Warsaw, IN. They will be adding 8,000 sq ft which will be used to house their Implant manufacturing business. The additional manufacturing space is needed to provide space for growth in their contact manufacturing business. The expansion will give the business a total of 23,000 sq ft, of which, approximately 19,500 sq ft is available for CNC machining and finishing. In addition to the building expansion, Kurt Kamholz, President, has announced plans to add engineering staff to the Precision Medical Technologies’ management team. The company is looking to promote from within two set-up machinist to the positions of CNC engineering programmers, and also to hire two degreed mechanical engineers. Kamholz explained the we want to be ready to respond to the development needs of our customers and having an adequate manufacturing engineering staff allows us to respond almost immediately to their project requests. Also, Kamholz said that having both degreed engineers and experienced set-up machinists working together to develop the manufacturing processes, we are providing our customers with leading edge machining technology and proven robust methods.
Premedtec Making Additions to Machining Capacity
Precision Medical Technologies, Inc. recently announced they will be making a significant addition in their machining capacity. The business will be adding 5 CNC machining centers over the next 6 months which will represent a 20% increase in overall capacity. Kurt Kamholz, President and Co-Owner, stated that the expansion is driven by increased demand from both our current customers and new accounts. Kamholz said we want to be prepared to support our customer’s growth, and recently we have been scheduling our equipment above that 80% level which begins to threaten on-time deliveries. Kamholz said the business will be adding three 5 Axis Haas VF-3SS Mills, and two Mori Seiki 6 Axis Chuckers as quickly as possible between now and year-end. Staffing of the new positions will follow the machine installation schedule; adding approximately 15-17 new positions.
Premedtec Achieves ISO13485:2003 Certification
Precision Medical Technologies, Inc. was recently audited in accordance with the requirements of ISO 13485:2003. SRI Quality System Registrar, Seven Fields, PA. hereby grants PMT registration of their management system at it’s location at 2059 North Pound Dr. Warsaw, IN. The scope of the ISO 13485:2003 registration includes the manufacture and supply of Orthopedic and medical instruments and implants.
Vickie Adkins, an outside consultant, assisted Precision Medical Technologies, Inc. with their preparation for the audit. According to Adkins, since PMT was previously ISO 9001:2000 certified, the necessary changes to the management system were primarily in the areas of risk management, customer complaint handling and identifying the appropriate critical processes that would allow the organization to function more effectively. The PMT management team implemented the appropriate processes to successfully achieve ISO 13485:2003 certification in a 6 month period.