Before and After 3D Printing : Comparison
$10,000 saved/month
Only 1 year until ROI
Problem
Shukla Medical, in their manufacturing of surgical instrument prototypes, such as the Xtract-All® Spine Universal Spinal Implant Removal System, require for their parts to be highly accurate and usable. Their products are used worldwide, by surgeons performing complicated and lengthy operations where the simple, intuitive design of Shukla Medical’s instruments are able to shine.
Due to the cost of every minute spent during each operation, the time saving qualities of their instruments are insurmountably valuable. The cost of an operating room ranges from $35 to $100, therefore instruments are required to be prototyped quickly and accurately to ensure no further cost. However, for this to be done, the instrument must first be tested by orthopaedic surgeons and were previously even fabricated by external CNC machines; all of which cost time and money. The long lead times being found in Shukla Medical’s manufacturing process were causing massive slowdowns on making modifications to prototypes and ultimately, to the surgeons ability to operate.
Solution
Finding that CNC machines weren’t allowing for the quicker lead times that they needed, Shukla Medical turned to Markforged 3D printing. With the introduction of a carbon-fibre 3D printer and a Metal X system into their prototyping design process, Shukla Medical found themselves developing stiff parts, spliced with carbon fibre for their initial prototypes, eradicating the need for the use for third-party CNC machines, leading to the Metal X being used to print the final prototypes. Ultimately, finished products were able to be brought to market more quickly, hence reducing the long lead times which were proving such an issue previously. Since this change, Shukla Medical has found itself on the forefront of the industry, with prototyping being more efficient and accurate than ever, simply through the use of their Markforged carbon fibre and Metal X system. Zack Sweitzer, Product Development Manager at Shukla Medical says “we’re going to bring a lot more products to market faster with our Markforged printers, and we finally have the design freedom to do it.”
