Micron Solutions Blog

Everything in manufacturing is intentional, from the machines utilized to the processes and operations in production— and material is no exception. Medical device producers around the world use a variety of materials, but metals, polymers, and ceramic are the most popular materials for orthopedic implant manufacturing.  When manufacturers decide upon what type of implant they want to produce, they first assess its intended purpose and verify that it will meet the patient’s needs. After making this determination, material selection follows suit. The type of implant needed is always directly correlated with the material used.  

With new strains introducing unique challenges in the fight against coronavirus, the demand for efficient and reliable COVID-19 test kits that can be used in the home has become increasingly amplified.  Recently, medical device producers have reached out urgently to leading medical contract manufacturing companies for their help in overcoming many of the obstacles that were present in making these kits widely available. This is why, with decades of experience in comparable diagnostic test kit manufacturing, Micron was well prepared to rise to the challenge when a global medical equipment producer approached the team seeking the guidance and capabilities that needed to get their COVID-19 home test kit to market.

Reshoring is the act of bringing manufacturing jobs that had been previously exported to foreign countries back to the United States. On a national scale, returning jobs to the United States combats high unemployment, reduces trade and budget deficits, and bolsters the economy. Locally, manufacturing companies also benefit from reshoring by being an employment opportunity creator in their respective communities, but most notably benefits by reducing their products’ total cost and improving their balance sheets.

We all have expressions we use that are representative of our cultures, our upbringing, our life experiences, or even just something we heard someone say that struck a chord within us.  There are the famously inspirational sayings, like Vince Lombardi’s classic quote “Winners never quit and quitters never win," and the often over-used (but still very true), “There is no ‘I’ in ‘team’.” (Peter Drucker) 

Growth is good—in fact, growth is necessary for survival.  But just as the physical growth in humans comes with challenges, so does organizational growth.  Unlike human growth, however, there are aspects of an organization’s growth that are within their control.  One aspect of organizational growth that must be controlled is the quality of the organization’s processes and products to ensure that quality must never suffer at the expense of growth.   

Contract manufacturing breeds innovation, but without the right experience to guide process engineering, it can be difficult to break out of established patterns. In this article we will compare the automated processes applied to two similar-yet-different products. While these items perform nearly identical functions, each has its own distinct assembly and packaging requirements. While many contract manufacturers would simply produce the parts simultaneously and add manual operations to each line, the team at Micron uncovered unique opportunities to increase efficiency and ROI by approaching each item as a unique part.

Micron Products is expanding and changing its name to Micron Solutions to reflect an enhanced scope of services, including turnkey, complex assembly. 

Industrial technology has progressed at a breakneck pace recently, and the application of robotic technology and automation is a fundamental tool in modern manufacturing. According to the Boston Consulting Group, “combining advanced robotics with other technologies, process enhancements, and structural layout changes [in a manufacturing environment] can yield savings of up to 40%,” which presents considerable potential for manufacturing companies seeking to leverage the expertise of a skilled contract manufacturing partner.

Mold making has a long history and it is no exception at Micron where we have mold makers with 35 to 45 years of experience under their belts. Our goal is to make quality, well-built molds for various industries and, with our experienced mold makers, we can achieve that.  

The key to producing a high-quality mold is precise tolerances, maximum production performance and quality mold design. We are able to create these quality molds with the support of advanced machining equipment, a good quality team and the support of a qualified engineering department.  

There are almost as many definitions for Quality as there are quality practitioners.  Some common ones include:

• Conforming to a quality standard
• Meeting customer specifications
• The standard of something as measured against other things of a similar kind
• Suitability for intended use

But what is Quality, really?