Piscataway, NJ • “Blasting” and “tumbling” may not be words that you readily relate to the fabrication and preparation of medical devices, however, they are often the finishing touches that get prescriptions written and keep manufacturers in compliance with standards set forth by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
According to Kramer Industries Sales Manager, Steven Schneider, owners and operators of facilities that produce and distribute medical devices in the United States are required to register annually with the FDA and to meet strict standards. Schneider stated, “Some of our medical device customers have relied on us for decades so they can produce the best possible products, from titanium bone screws, to orthopedic appliances, to shoe inserts.”
One such long-time Kramer customer is Eastern Podiatry Laboratory, an FDA-approved supplier of podiatrist-prescribed arch supports. According to Bob Cominsky of Eastern, “We’ve had a Kramer tumbler for more than 20 years and haven’t had a single problem to speak of. The few times we’ve called on them for help, the people at Kramer were right there for us providing whatever assistance we needed. The only thing we’ve had to do is order new media for the tumbler every few months.”
As fast as the Internet has grown, so has Kramer’s customer base within the medical community. “There’s a growing demand for our combination tumbler/blaster,” commented Steven Schneider. “It carries parts into the blast stream of a rotating basket where a fine but abrasive medium, such as aluminum oxide, does its job. It’s great for removing tiny burrs that you would never see with the naked eye.”
Even with the increase in equipment and medium sales to the medical field, Schneider still sees Kramer Industries as more of a service company than an equipment company. “I spend far more time on the phone helping our existing customers, to optimize their results than I do explaining the features and benefits of our equipment,” said Schneider.