Metal Stamping for the Medical & Healthcare Industries

At Manor Tool & Manufacturing Company, we are an industry-leading metal stamping company specializing in bending, forming, punching, and deep drawn stamping. We accommodate projects involving a variety of metal materials and prototype to production quantities. Equipped with over 60 years of industry experience, we have the knowledge and skills necessary to produce high-quality custom stampings for customers in a wide range of industries, including medical metal stampings.

In the medical and healthcare industries, equipment—including all integrated parts, components, and assemblies—are subject to strict standards that focus on ensuring the safety of medical personnel and patients. Our extensive experience and state-of-the-art stamping facility enable us to meet these standards, thereby producing stamped components suitable for medical devices and instruments.

Below we outline the key considerations we keep in mind during metal stamping operations for medical and healthcare customers, as well as some of the common equipment, materials, and end products involved.

Key Considerations for Medical Metal Stampings

As an experienced metal stamping company, we’re well aware of the push for smaller, lighter, and more economical components in the medical industry. Meeting these demands without sacrificing performance, reliability, and durability necessitates careful planning during the design and manufacturing stages. Some of the measures we take to improve the manufacturability of a metal stamping for medical devices include:

• Utilizing prototypes. Prototyping is a crucial aspect of component design and development. It allows product designers and developers to test out different design iterations, allowing them to identify potential issues and areas for improvement and, ultimately, decide on the design that best meets customer specifications.
• Reducing the need for secondary operations. During the design stage, it is important to consider what operations are required to produce the desired product. By simplifying or adjusting the design, it is possible to reduce or eliminate the need for secondary processing (e.g., machining), which reduces the amount of time and labor required during production.
• Investing in engineering services. Companies with extensive engineering services are likely to have broader knowledge and equipment, both of which can help produce stampings with greater precision and complexity in a shorter period of time.
• Adhering to quality control (QC) standards. As indicated above, medical and healthcare equipment must meet strict criteria. Quality control operations allow manufacturers to verify the products they produce meet both industry standards and customer specifications.

Equipment Employed for Medical Metal Stampings

During stamping operations, industry professionals may employ a variety of tooling, depending on the part and production requirements. Some of the most widely used for medical stampings are:

• Soft tooling. Soft tooling refers to tools made from pre-hardened steel or other similar materials used in low-volume manufacturing operations. These tools often come with lower investment costs ($75–$500 for simple parts and up to $2000–$3000 for complex parts) but are generally less durable than hard tooling.
• Hard tooling. Hard tooling is made from hardened steel and other similar materials to ensure it is durable enough to withstand use in high-volume manufacturing operations. While it has a higher initial investment cost than soft tooling ($5000–$300,000, depending on design complexity, size, and other factors), it often has a lower cost per unit over time.
• Progressive dies. Progressive die stamping operations employ a series of specialized stations within a tool (generally hard tooling) installed at separate workstations to gradually shape the workpiece. As the workpiece progresses through the tool, new stamped elements are added until, at the end of the operation, it exits the tool as a finished part. This stamping method is ideal for high-volume production runs.

At Manor Tool & Manufacturing Company, we offer in-house tooling capabilities. By leveraging our AutoCAD and/or SOLIDWORKS software (for design operations) and MASTERCAM software (for CNC machining and wire EDM operations), we can produce custom tooling for any precision metal stamping project. For example, our progressive dies can accommodate pressures of 22–400 tons, tolerance requirements of ±0.0005 inches, and material thicknesses ranging from 0.005–0.500 inches. In addition to tooling design and manufacturing services, we can incorporate and/or repair existing tooling.

Common Materials Used

Given the strict design and manufacturing requirements in the medical and healthcare industries, metal stampings are generally made from one of two materials:

• Stainless steel. This material demonstrates numerous characteristics that make it suitable for use in medical components, such as high strength, corrosion resistance, chemical inertness (including with cleaning compounds), biocompatibility, and durability. For these reasons, among others, medical manufacturers often use it in implantable devices, surgical instruments, and other medical equipment.
• Aluminum. Similar to stainless steel, this material exhibits excellent strength, corrosion resistance.

Typical Stamped Components for Medical Applications

Industry professionals utilize metal stamping to produce a wide range of precision parts and components for medical and healthcare equipment, such as:

• Covers for thermometer probes
• Equipment enclosures and housings
• Oxygen tank subcomponents
• Pump components
• Surgical instruments (e.g., drills, forceps, retractors, etc.)
• Syringes

Choose Manor Tool for Your Medical and Healthcare Stamping Needs

Metal stamping is a versatile manufacturing process used to produce parts, components, and assemblies for a variety of industries, including the medical and healthcare industries. If you’re looking for a partner for your next medical or healthcare project, the experts at Manor Tool are here to help. We have the experience and equipment to create durable and reliable stampings suitable for use in medical devices and other medical applications.

For more information about our metal stamping capabilities, contact us or request a quote today.