SEPTEMBER 2021
INTERVIEW with Matino Medical Devices GmbH & Co. KG
De-burring and levelling of pacemaker titanium housings - only the best is good Matino is a specialist in the manufacture of titanium and stainless-steel products and has over 30 years’ experience in the production of titanium housings for medical applications. Based on this experience, they supply a wide variety of housings for medical purposes. For a good three years now, a Gerber BP-MX brush polishing machine has been involved in the process of this high-tech production. In an interview with Matino, we want to find out which tasks our installation is used for and where it brings considerable benefits. As a service provider in sheet metal forming with strengths in deep drawing, cutting, stamping and bending, Matino manufactures housings for final implants such as pacemakers, defibrillators and hearing implants. The RENÉ GERBER AG is technology leader in brush deburring, edge honing and polishing with 65 years of experience. The development and construction of brush polishing machines and face polishing machines as well as the corresponding tools such as brushes and pastes for deburring, defined honing and polishing is based on many years of process technology competence and is adapted to the workpiece requirements in cooperation with you. We accompany our customers from the first workpiece test and system planning to the commissioning and training of the machines.
René Gerber AG Werkstrasse 35 CH-3250 Lyss Telephone +41 32 387 88 00 info@gerber-maschinen.ch www.gerber-maschinen.ch
René Gerber AG in an interview with Mr Makower, Plant Manager and Mr Bormann, Process Engineering Manager at Matino in Berlin: In which area and for what tasks do you use the Gerber machine at Matino and where do the installations bring success for you? We use the BP-MX to de-burr the outer profile of components for implants made of titanium. Since pacemaker housings consist of two parts and are welded together at the end, the edges must lie very precisely on each other. This means that the parts must not have any burrs, but must have a minimum rounding, i.e. an edge that provides the basis for a clean laser weld seam.
The benefit can be seen on the profitable and process-reliable side: from a historical perspective, components were de-burred manually. This gives us flexibility, but there is a risk that the machined edge may look different depending on the employee. With the BP-MX, we have an automated process that makes us faster and constant. With the help of Gerber, we were able to reduce the manual activities on the machined parts, sometimes also the number of rejects, to the best of our ability. It is also in our interest to eliminate manual operations in the near future for other customers with flatter and smaller parts. The BP-MX is the established solution for brushing sharp edges and burrs. What is special about procuring titanium alloy materials? There are a few approved alloys (the standard ASTMF67 medical grade specification), that are used in the manufacture of implants. It is mandatory that our suppliers comply with this quality.
www.gerber-maschinen.ch In our business, it is indeed difficult to find suitable suppliers who provide us with the appropriate quality. Almost any supplier can deliver the precision we need. But when it comes to precision and surface quality in combination, it starts to get difficult.
What led you to start talks again with the Gerber Company after three years?
How satisfied are you with the cooperation with René Gerber AG?
In the meantime, our production has encountered problems with the grinding of half shells for new parts. Various solutions have been tested, including wet grinding. Since we are not experts in these processes, we are looking for the appropriate partner who can support us.
We started the first project after our visit to the EMO 2018 exhibition and have been very satisfied with the cooperation and exchange of ideas with Gerber right from the start. The openness during part trials helps us to understand where critical areas are, so that we can find a way together that is feasible in terms of quality, quantity and price. In a successful cooperation, it is important how one deals with situations where problems arise. A healthy dialogue as a basis together with the Surface Expert Centre at Gerber in Lyss, where tests and trials can be carried out, are helpful in finding a suitable solution so that at the end parts can be process-reliably manufactured in a series.
We have now worked with the machine for three years, which is an attractive indicator of a good product.
grinding is very interesting for us. Gerber already brought us a specific solution in our first project and supported us in the development. In the end, Matino’s experience with the brushing machine led to the decision to work with Gerber again on the second project.
We see in a renewed cooperation with Gerber that we can avoid further risks regarding possible biocompatibility. The advantage is that we can use the same media, i.e. the sanding pads, in a new project and thus arrive very quickly at a serial part production. We were afraid that wet grinding The contact, the abrasion and the would produce some kind of function remain the same, it is sludge that would contaminate just now done by machine inour cleaning equipment. This stead of manually. We see this would mean that we would have as a great advantage because it to buy specialised cleaning eliminates the need for reequipment - that would be an ab- qualification, and we gain valuasolute horror for us! Our parts are ble time. not sterile, but they are free of dust and grease. The feedback How satisfied are you with the instalfrom our customers regarding the lation? cleanliness of the parts is very good. And if we bring the wet We can only report what comes process into our work, we are out of our production. The mataking on the next problem - chine was delivered to us and which is the reason why dry since then it has been running
www.gerber-maschinen.ch permanently, i.e. in two-shift operation. We have not encountered any negative points. How would you assess the handling/ user-friendliness of the installation? The simplicity of operation is a special feature. With the appropriate training, the installation can be operated optimally. Where do you see the greatest benefit of the machine in your industry? The tenor is of course quite clear: we want to increase efficiency, process reliability and place the responsibility in the processes. It is obvious that there must be alternatives that replace manual processes. A machine produces defined, constant results, but you can’t do that as a human being.
When parts become more and more precise and are subject to even higher requirements, we as the Matino Company have to be able to keep pace and eliminate critical factors. Being a service provider in the process chain of a pacemaker or defibrillator is not just a hobby; these are lifesupport systems that deserve our fullest attention! Dear Mr Bormann, Dear Mr Makower, thank you very much for the frank discussion and providing an insight of a specialist for the manufacture of titanium and stainless-steel products in the high-precision medical Industry.