For virtually everyone in the U.S., November marks the beginning of winter, shorter days, decreasing temperatures, and Thanksgiving. For those involved with medical device development and manufacturing, it’s also the month for the Medica and CompaMed trade shows in Dusseldorf, Germany. While last year’s event seemed to bring the crowd’s back following the COVID-induced hiatus, this year may be a more true return to form.
 
With this in mind, I reached out to a number of companies who will be exhibiting at the show to find out directly from them what they are showing off or focusing on at the event, what challenges customers have brought them, and where they see their role within the industry in aiding medical device manufacturers. Tackling these questions as well as a couple others, Robert Schwenker, VP of Sales—Specialty Molding at Spectrum Plastics Group, A DuPont Business, shared a few insights to help you determine if the firm should be a potential services partner for you in 2024 or beyond.
 
Sean Fenske: What technology or service are you emphasizing at Medica/CompaMed this year?
 
Robert Schwenker: We help our customers leverage the resources and reach of our global network of state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities. Our full-service solutions are available no matter a customer’s location, like our state-of-the-art development and manufacturing hub for extrusion, catheters, balloons, and finished devices in Tullamore, Ireland.
 
Fenske: If you could give one piece of advice to companies seeking a manufacturing partner before they make a decision, what would it be?
 
Schwenker: Working with a global full-serve contract manufacturer is best to ensure you have all resources available from one single source, from concept to full-scale production.
 
Fenske: What are the forces driving medical device manufacturers to seek your technology/services over doing it in-house?
 
Schwenker: Our facilities and capabilities span the globe, with advanced technology to bring next-generation medical devices and components to market through an optimized processes.
 
Fenske: In what ways is your company able to aid in getting a product (project) to market faster?
 
Schwenker: Customers seek out our component webstore and advanced additive manufacturing technology to enable a faster time to market. Our webstore can accelerate the design and development phase of customer projects with 1,000+ purposely designed extrusions and components, ready to ship the next day. Our additive manufacturing capabilities create prototypes from the same materials used in extrusion and injection molding medical applications with short lead times, all allowing quick iteration to get your device to market quickly without compromising quality
 
Spectrum Plastics Group, A DuPont Business is located at Medica/Compamed in Hall 8B, Booth/Stand N25.