It’s been quite the hiatus since attending the Medica and CompaMed trade shows in Dusseldorf, Germany. My last visit to the event was 2019, prior to all the disruption created by the COVID-19 pandemic. With renewed enthusiasm, I was anxious to get back onto the show floor to meet with those companies attending the 2022 event. In anticipation of my visit, I reached out to a number of companies to get the scoop directly from them on what they are showcasing at the event, what challenges customers have brought them, and where they see their role within the industry in aiding medical device manufacturers. With that in mind, Dave Ohmann, CEO of Wytech Industries, shared the following insights to help you determine if the firm should be a potential services partner for you in 2023 or beyond.
 
Sean Fenske: What technology or service are you emphasizing at Medica/CompaMed this year?
 
Dave Ohmann: Wytech’s FastLane store of stainless steel wire and metal tubing has over 500 sizes. While this portion of the business has grown significantly with our U.S. base customers, many of our European customers are unaware they can get medical grade materials delivered to them within 72 hours. We will be emphasizing this FastLane store and it’s online store ordering capabilities.
 
Fenske: What’s the most common challenge customers inquire about and how do you address it?
 
Ohmann: Lead times of raw material and components have extended out as R&D and production demand has increased post-pandemic. Wytech has addressed it with the addition of new production capital and increased levels of raw material that have allowed us to expand products in our Fastlane webstore.
 
Fenske: If you could give one piece of advice to companies seeking a manufacturing partner before they make a decision, what would it be?
 
Ohmann: Any manufacturing solution needs to have transparency with regard to the short- and long-term volume needs. While long term can be very difficult to forecast based on macro factors like EU-MDR and the macro-economic, there needs to be a min/max model of long-term potential so the supply chain of raw material can be secured to ensure product supply.
 
Fenske: What are the forces driving medical device manufacturers to seek your technology/services over doing it in-house?
 
Ohmann: Medical device companies constantly evaluate their product lines by revenue per square foot (or meter) and determine whether it continues to make financial sense to either inventory the raw material or make a sub-component to support their final production line. In many cases, it does not make financial sense and the customer then seeks Wytech as a leader in wire and hypotube processing to free up the valuable space in the customer’s facility. The same logic applies for component development; we have customers evaluating transferring their in-house development equipment (high precision grinding) to Wytech because we have the speed and expertise for rapid prototyping that many of our existing customers simply struggle to maintain.
 
Fenske: In what ways is your company able to aid in getting a product (project) to market faster?
 
Ohmann: For existing customers with production products, we are working on supply agreements to minimize cost impacts and ensure continuity of raw material. For customers interested in rapid R&D, we offer blanket development purchase orders, whereby we can order a variety of raw material and tooling to support future design iterations in a quick and efficient manner.
 
Wytech Industries is located at Medica/Compamed in the USA Pavilion, Hall 8B, Booth/Stand F20-1.