Over the years, Area Tool & Manufacturing, Inc. has gained extensive experience manufacturing parts for automated assembly machines used to build critical medical devices. 

Much of this work involves manufacturing replacement tooling for companies that use these machines. In most cases, our intentionally small shop can provide replacement tooling much faster than a big original equipment manufacturer (OEM), ensuring minimal downtime. 

These projects are relatively straightforward and easy for us to complete quickly, even on short notice. However, there is another scenario we encounter in medical precision machining that is considerably more complex: machine upgrades. 

Innovation Drives Automated Assembly Machine Upgrades 

One of the most exciting things about the medical industry is it innovates at a fast pace. 

Perhaps this scenario is familiar to you…

There are advancements in the medical products your company makes, and the automated assembly machines you’ve been using can no longer properly assemble the new and improved products. 

You engage the OEM about upgrading the assembly machines and plan a strategic rollout to avoid having all the machines down at once—a critical misstep that could bring production to a halt. 

There’s just one small problem. When it comes time to involve the machine shops that will be producing the new parts, the quoted lead times are longer than anticipated, threatening to derail your meticulously planned rollout strategy and result in costly downtime.

Important: Involve Your Medical Precision Machining Shop Early 

If there’s one piece of advice we can give to medical companies and OEMs that are upgrading machines, it’s to engage your medical precision machining partner early in the process. 

When you involve us up front, we can provide you with critical input that will help you plan downtime accurately. That way, there are no surprises once you surpass the engineering phase and are ready to move forward with manufacturing. 

Sometimes, we may even identify an opportunity to begin machining certain finalized components ahead of others to streamline manufacturing and shorten your overall lead time. 

Area Tool & Manufacturing, Inc. is committed to making machine upgrades as smooth as possible for our customers. We encourage you to keep us in the loop when planning an upgrade so we can provide the very best service. Contact us to discuss your next project.