Medical component manufacturing requires the right machine technology and service support
Headland Technology has been providing all-around solutions to ADVATEK for more than 15 years. When ADVATEK entered to manufacture components for the medical industry they required two crucial things, high precision, reliable machine technology, and a reliable partner to provide them with the right knowledge and service to keep the production going 24/7. They found both in Headland Technology.
ADVATEK was founded in 1995 and has since been a leader in the manufacturing of high-end CNC machined components. Their facility is equipped with 11 Makino machines. Their focus is on providing top-quality parts at competitive prices and efficient delivery. Located in Bayswater, Victoria, ADVATEK has supplied components to a variety of industries including medical, telecommunications, and aerospace. Their facility has grown to include a 600sqm factory that operates 24 hours a day. The team at ADVATEK is composed of industry experts who have remained committed to the same level of passion and vision since the company’s launch over 25 years ago. With many familiar faces at ADVATEK spanning decades, their team is unified, efficient, communicative, focused on quality, and ready to deliver. They are continuously striving to improve and modernise their operations by helping their team to acquire more advanced manufacturing skills. The company not only provides high-quality parts but also highly reliable customer service. They believe that both are equally important to deliver the best possible results to their customers.
Challenge
With new contracts to manufacture medical components, ADVATEK knew they needed to invest in the best machine technology to stay reliant and efficient. It also meant a steep learning curve, requiring precision, reliability, and high-quality repetitive output with a solid process to trace every step of production and even serialise every individual piece. Together with our machine experts, ADVATEK found the right technology to be able to successfully enter the medical industry and can now manufacture over 40,000 units of special medical components per year.
In fact, ADVATEK directors found that Makino machines were the perfect machine technology to manufacture medical components. “We were satisfied with our first Makino machines because of their performance in reliability, accuracy, and ease of operation,” Gary McBean, Marketing Director and co-owner said. “So, it was only natural to stay with Makino machines to enter the medical component manufacturing industry.”
Investing in the new F3 Makino vertical machine centre did not disappoint in anyaspects of the operation. “It just made sense to stay with Makino since the small machines had the same performance and newer software,” added McBean. “For us, the machine needed to be an allrounder from being user-friendly, efficient PC-like capability for data management and editing, and the networking and storage capability of a data centre to be able to provide us with a continuous serialised production process.”
The Makino machine and service reliability was crucial to ADVATEK’s success. “Our Makino’s run 24/7, lead by a small team, some of whom have been with the company 25 years,” said John MacDonald, Production Supervisor. “We only run one shift a day (Mon-Fri), and on weekends the machines are run unmanned. The finished parts can be picked up on Monday morning. The Makino machines and their reliability are a piece of mind for our production.”
Manufacturing medical components is an around-the-clock operation. Even ADVATEK’s older Makino machines can keep up with the newer Makino machines. Together they were able to manufacture over 400,000 medical housings over the past ten years without sacrificing quality. This demonstrates the reliability of Makino machines and shows how well these machines can handle a high volume of production while still maintaining the highest output quality.
The ADVATEK team is very passionate about Makino machines due to their precision and accuracy which are essential for even the most demanding jobs. Their technologies provide high-speed, high-performance spindles that deliver the highest repeatable metal-removal rates. Kevin Edmonds, ADVATEK’s Production Director and co-owner, explains another important aspect. “In order to be successful you have to have two major components in your day-to-day operation,” said Edmonds. “One is to have consistency in your processes and the right machine technology. The Makino F3 machine gave us exactly what we needed to successfully fulfil the needs to manufacture specialised medical industry components. And Headland Technology is our reliable partner in service and machine technology. Without these two components, it would be difficult for us to be where we are today.”
“The top machine tool suppliers all have similar products. What separates Headland Technology from the rest is their ongoing commitment to service excellence,” said Managing Director Gary McBean, in summing up what ADVATEK values most in the partnership with Headland.