Manufacturers Raumedic and Hamilton Medical have partnered together to quickly produce over 25,000 ventilators to cope with the Covid-19 pandemic.
Hamilton Medical was contacted by the US Department of Health & Human Services and approached Raumedic for a specialist silicone adhesive in short order. The adhesive is reportedly solvent-free and plasticiser-free, easy to use, and able to bond silicones to each other and to materials such as plastics. The single-component adhesive is used for parts of the housing of the Hamilton-T1 critical care transport ventilator and helps to increase resistance to demanding environmental conditions.
Hamilton Medical received one of the largest contacts from the US Department of Health & Human Services, and therefore to fulfil this, additional steps were needed. Firstly, the company had to step-up existing production in Switzerland. In order to reach the target, it would be necessary to create an entire new assembly line and supply chain in the US, and to provide sufficient numbers of components and consumables.
Bob Hamilton, CEO of Hamilton Medical, commented: “Initially, we asked our Swiss colleagues who their suppliers were and so we were put in contact with Raumedic AG in Germany.
“We were very pleased when they informed us that Raumedic already has a manufacturing plant in the US, in North Carolina.” This meant that the project could move as quickly as possible by working with a team in the same time-zone and with a similar outlook on the market.
Martin Bayer, president and CEO at Raumedic, added: “I think that all medtech companies want to make a contribution to the fight against the coronavirus.
“So, we jumped at the chance to connect with Hamilton in the USA and get them what they needed as quickly as possible.”
Although offshoring has lengthened supply chains and can influence the ability of companies to be responsive, Raumedic was keen to invest in manufacturing within America.