If you were summoned to explain the importance of medical plastic molding what would come to mind?
For us, what comes to mind is the number of lives these precisely crafted instruments would save. More importantly, the quality of these components reflects how well medical practitioners can execute their duties.
Furthermore, medical professionals can only achieve great feats because these devices have passed quality compliance tests.
Thankfully, collaborating on such important projects as medical plastic molding makes the journey smoother given that you can find a suitable partner.
However, just like marriage, choosing your preferred partner could be dicey. The good news is we’re here to guide you in establishing things to look out for when choosing a partner for your medical plastic molding projects. We are ready when you are.
Define Your Requirements
The journey of a thousand miles begins with a step, and the first step on the journey to finding a suitable partner for your medical plastic molding starts with defining your requirements. These requirements include understanding your medical device’s needs. Now these needs could be classified into different aspects.
Some of these are the complexity of the design, the perfect material composition required for the project, and the quantity that is to be produced. The right partner for your project must align with these basic project requirements, or else what will ensue will be a ‘situationship’ instead of a mutual relationship.
In addition to your basic requirements, setting clear goals that team member aligns with is as crucial as booking your dentist appointments. What do we mean here?
Your preferred partner must be aware of the budget assigned for the project and should be able to work with it. Also, the estimated timeline must be clearly stated to avoid costly misunderstandings. The level of expertise expected of the whole team to ensure efficiency and the project’s success is paramount.
Medical devices are not toys that can be manufactured nonchalantly. They require precision, dedication, and attention to detail. Before we forget, your potential partner must be aware of FDA regulations which include adhering to biocompatible materials and quality assurance measures.
Assess Technical Capabilities
Having cleared the air on basic project requirements with your potential partner, your next step will be to assess their technical capabilities. The wealth of experience your likely partner possesses enhances their chances of partnering with them.
When design challenges emerge, how well can your partner navigate such challenges? An assessment of their knowledge of modern technologies such as micro-molding, multi-cavity molding, and other contemporary techniques must be evaluated.
What will make the partnership even more interesting and successful is the awareness of your potential partner’s thoughts and ideas on cleanroom production because this parameter is non-negotiable when handling sterile components.
What’s even cooler is knowing they can handle high-performance plastic materials such as PVC and PEEK.
We talk so much about reducing costs in medical plastic molding and that’s because resources and time are valuable assets that should be distributed efficiently. One awesome technical capacity that can achieve that for you is a partner that offers design-for-manufacturability (DFM) analysis.
What this does is assist in pointing out deficiencies early and for quick corrective measures to be taken. Similarly, the availability of some advanced tools such as automation and robotics will not only make your partnership blossom but also achieve great feats together.
Prioritize Quality and Compliance
Before this partnership can be sealed, potential partners are to be vetted to ensure you’re not going into marriage with a perpetual offender. On that account, your next step would be to find out if your potential partners prioritize compliance.
Ask questions like it’s a dinner date, and if possible request for past projects that have been certified by FDA or CE and are quality certified by ISO13485. Apart from this being a safety and quality measure, it demonstrates their passion for professionalism and excellence.
Amongst other qualities to look out for in a partner, their quality assurance level is quite significant. What tools do they have to carry out quality control and quality assurance processes? Equipment such as automated visual and 3D scanning systems will go a long way in helping the project meet industry-stipulated quality and specifications.
In recent times, good manufacturers of plastic molding medical components like TDL have incorporated traceability systems into their production process. Its primary assignment is to track materials while production is ongoing.
For complete due diligence on possible partners, you can throw in some environmental checks to confirm your potential partner’s stance on contamination risks. Manufacturing medical components stand a high risk of contamination and it will do you a lot of good to know how they intend to curb that.
Evaluate Communication and Long-Term Value
Your assessment of your potential partners is gradually drawing to an end when you get to this stage. A clear line of communication should be established.
A breakdown in communication does little to no help for both parties. On top of that, the project would be at risk of total collapse. Imagine a couple that has argued with neither willing to compromise. We’ll leave that for you to judge.
Communication is key and even so in medical plastic manufacturing. Quick responses to queries will ensure a free flow of instructions. In addition, your intended partner should be transparent enough to document all costs without any hidden commission. This builds trust and accountability, and both parties can work around the budget should there be any unforeseen extra costs.
Partnerships are built for long-term relationships, hence the need to find suitable partners that would share your successes as their successes and your limitations as their limitations. Before we begin to sound like a marriage counsellor, a review of their past relationships with feedback from customers will ease your decision.
Although partnerships are not easy, with set ground rules, healthy boundaries, and communication, it can only become a match made in heaven. This would set precedence for future collaborations.
Conclusion
In a nutshell, the medical plastic molding industry requires precision and dedication which brings quality along. For that reason when selecting your project partner, never shy away from red flags.
Your assessment should begin with defining your requirements which can be aliased as knowing what you want. With that done, you can begin assessing their technical capacities and what they bring to the table. What you’ll have left is to confirm your due diligence in understanding how much they are dedicated to quality, compliance, and excellence. And just like icing on the cake, you can conclude by establishing a good communication line that fosters transparency.
Drafting a checklist like this will help streamline your selection process, and a good partner will drive efficiency and innovation. If you are in doubt, ask couples that have been together for as long as possible.