Valtronic Segments
Valtronic
Newsletter
Volume IX Issue 3
Fall 2013
In this Issue
:: Company News
:: Industry News
:: Behind the Scenes
:: Events
:: Tech Talk
Company News

Valtronic USA Adds Bioburden ISO 8 Cleanroom 
 

Valtronic USA has recently qualified a new ISO Class 8 clean room. Our 288 square ft. bioburden ISO 8 clean room is a modern facility with temperature, humidity, & contamination controls. It provides us with the ability to package electronic and mechanical assemblies in a pouch ready for sterilization such as  EtO (Ethylene Oxide).   It completes the production chain for our customers' products, and allows Valtronic to provide a complete contract manufacturing solution for active implants.

 

"The project began as a request from a new customer and we anticipate a very positive response from other implant manufacturers regarding this capability. Our new facility has provided us with the space to add this capability with room to expand it when needed." said Jim Ohneck, Chief Marketing Officer, "We started preparing for expansion like this when we moved to our current facility last year and the right customer helped us complete it even earlier than expected. Providing this capability saves customers production time and the vertical integration also offers cost efficiencies."

 

Working with an independent lab for testing, the clean room has proven to meet ISO 8 = less than 3,520,000 particles greater than or equal to 0.5�m - particulate levels according to ISO 14644-1. The qualification was led by two engineers and our Quality Manager. Our technicians were trained on cleanliness controls in the ISO 8 clean room to ensure best-in-class production for today's demanding medical device market.   

 

Valtronic Morocco Brings Three New Products Online 

 

 

In the last three months Valtronic Morocco has started working with three new Customers each with their own Class IIA medical product:

      

  • An Ocular sensor which collects and transmits the data from ocular dimensional  changes to a receiver    
  • Therapeutic eye goggles used for drug diffusion for people suffering from dry eyes.
  • The disposable part of a new generation Endoscope used for a very specific medical diagnosis

Two of the products were transferred from Switzerland where the engineering and prototyping was done and one is a new customer with the project being handled completely by our Moroccan facility from start to finish.

 

For all three products the full responsibility of the product and process is managed by our Moroccan facility in partnership with the Customer. Prior to this year management of these projects was done by the originating Valtronic facility. This is a new challenge for the Moroccan plant, which they have been working toward since last year to be completely prepared to take the reign.

 

These new projects are exciting products and offer excellent future potential. They provide us with the opportunity to utilize the expanded and updated medical capabilities of the Morocco facility such as the ISO 7 and ISO 8 clean room installed in the past few years.

 

This is an terrific opportunity for our dedicated Moroccan team.   We look forward to the opportunity to present their capabilities to you as well.

 

Valtronic Customer Survey

 

 

One of the goals at Valtronic is to increase our customer service and awareness. Part of this effort is our annual customer survey which was recently completed. Thank you to all of our customers who participated in the survey. We received excellent feedback across the globe. We greatly appreciate the time you took to complete it and your input as well.

 

We take your feedback seriously and our management team is evaluating the feedback and developing an action plan for future improvements.  A few items of note we have implemented these past months include: 

 

  • A more robust system to track early/on-time/late deliveries
  • Implementation of electronic routers to improve work order closing time 
  • Instituting a buyer-planner role allowing for more completed kits being released due to fewer part shortage occurrences 

By targeting areas that need attention we can become more efficient and provide you with better service and ideas to improve our relationships with you. In the end, our goal is to provide you with the best product and service possible.

 

Industry News
 

"The Global Innovation Index 2013" The Local Dynamics of Innovation

The goal of innovation is to improve or create products or services going forward in order to always provide more competitive and better performing products which are quickly adopted.   It is a state of mind and many say part of some people's DNA.

 

Transforming an innovation into a

market success requires team work, R&D, a strong global process, quality management, infrastructures and an understanding of the market's needs.

 

According to a recent study, The Global Innovation Index (GII) 2013 published by Cornell University, the French organization INSEAD and the World Organization for Intellectual Property, Switzerland was ranked as the most innovative country in 2013 and the US ranked fifth. The rankings were based on Innovation Input with Five Input Pillars ((1) Institutions, (2) Human capital and research, (3) Infrastructure, (4) Market sophistication, and (5) Business sophistication and Innovation Output with two Output Pillars Knowledge and Technology Output and Creative Output. The overall GII score is the simple average of the Input and Output Sub-Indices.

 

Innovation and technological mastery enables Switzerland to provide a home to companies who are global leaders in their industry. Canton Vaud where our headquarters is located is host to 1,200 hi-tech companies, numerous organizations focusing on the development of innovative projects, incubators, science parks as well as leading universities like the EPFL.

 

Switzerland also leads the world in patenting per capita. Valtronic is very proud to be part of this innovative culture and strives to provide its customers with new technological ideas that will help our customers excel.

Read the Entire Report 
  

Behind the Scenes   

  

Meet Kenza Amzil, Production Technician 

Kenza Amzil,
Valtronic Morocco
What is the most important part of your job?

 

To ensure we meet customer forecasts and commitments while maintaining quality standards and meeting customers requirements.   

 

What do you enjoy most about what you do?

 

What I like most in my job is the team work. I cannot do my job right if we don't have good relationships with people and a team spirit.   

  

What is a typical day like for you?

 

I start with a line overview analyzing the WIP, the needs and if needed I adjust and reassign the people to workstations in order to balance the capacity. I feed the line with the material and then I read my e-mail and prepare the daily manufacturing meeting . After the meeting I address issues with the non-conforming devices or lots, make decisions and when it is needed remove them from the line, . At the end of the day I input daily achievements in the system and send my daily report .  

 

What is your background and how did you enter this field?

 

I have a degree of Specialized Technician in Electronics. Valtronic's activity fits exactly with my skills so it was a natural fit. 

 

What is the most important lesson you have learned in your career?

  

First, I have developed my competences over the years learning many technologies...but I also developed rigor in work and at home, as well as better organization and communication skills. I learned how to better prioritize.

   

Lastly, what do you look forward to that is not work related.

 

My best wish is that my kids can achieve their hopes and be better than me.   

 

Valtronic  Welcomes

 

USA


Mark Zwolinski - Quality Manager & ISO Management Representative
Dan Lisowsky  - Program Manager
Monica Gasbarre - Marketing Representative
    

Switzerland


Denis Gaimard - Sales Manager for Precision Mechanics and Orthopaedics 

Events 

Tradeshows & Conferences 

 Europe  


Compamed
 
Compamed
November 20 -22, 2013  
D�sseldorf Fairgrounds.  D�sseldorf, Germany,
Hall 8B, Booth J09

Compamed is an international trade fair for suppliers' products in medical manufacture offering  a comprehensive range of parts, materials  and components.
It is also held concurrently with MEDICA, the world's largest and most renowned medical trade fair attracting 130,000 visitors annually.

Visit Valtronic in Hall 8B, Booth J09 by the North Entrance.  
Valtronic's Chief Marketing Officer, Jim Ohneck will present  "Glass Encapsulation in Electronic Embedded Systems" at Compamed's DeviceMed Forum on Nov. 20th at 12:00 - 12:30 pm.  

For more information visit Suppliers Forum

This talk will also be given in the Valtronic booth on Nov. 21
st at 5pm.

For more information on Compamed

USA

OAI Logo
 
OAI Fourth Annual Industry Forum
November 12-14, 2013, Cleveland, OH

Valtronic is sponsoring OAI's Ninth Annual Industry Forum.  The Forum's focus this year is on "Global Opportunities for the Future."

Speakers from Airbus Group, Boeing, Department of Commerce and NASA Glenn Research Center are already confirmed.

For more information and registration,

We look forward to seeing you

Tech Talk      

 

Introducing the Implantable Medical Device Group   

 

 

Valtronic has worked on over 100 electronic implant projects over the years and was recently invited to join a  partnership with three best-in-class suppliers for the complete management of electronic implantable devices.  Through this partnership we see  a great opportunity to expand the technical capability we can offer customers. The members of the group have a track record of success with both start-up and well-established device manufacturers to design and produce a variety of medical devices for both implantable and external applications such as:

 

  • Cardiac/Arrhythmia Monitoring devices
  • Neuromodulation applications including Epilepsy, Pain Suppression, Muscle and Gastric Stimulators
  • Implantable Therapeutic Devices
  • Cochlear Implants
  • Drug Delivery Devices

A quick glance at the Group's Capabilities:

  

Chameleon Design - After more than 18 years of OEM Medical Device Development at Hitronics Designs Chameleon was formed in 2007 to develop implantable and external medical devices 

  • Device Design
  • ProductDevelopment
  • Test Development

Souriau PA& E - has been producing hermetic electronic feed-thrus and packaging for implantable medical devices since 1976.  

  • Feedthru Design & Manufacturing
  • Component Testing
  • Micro Packaging

Litron - Laser welding initial components, laser cutting cannulas, full implantable builds and final hermetic sealing

  • Assembly
  • Sealing
  • Supply Chain Management

Valtronic - Contract manufacturer specializing in electronic miniaturization offering:

  • Circuit board design services
  • Complete electronic assembly.  
  • Electronic supply chain management
  • FDA Registered and ISO 13485:2003 certified

We are excited for the seamless opportunity this offers our customers.  This partnership was formed to help reduce risk and simplify management of your next implantable medical device project.   For more information visit: Implantable Medical Devices. 

Partners
  

The Art of Business Education

By Jim Ohneck, Chief Marketing Officer 

 

Like most of our clients, Valtronic also makes an effort to provide continuing professional development to its employees and management team.

  

Recently, the Senior Management Team had the opportunity to participate in the Program for Executive Development at IMD Business School in Lausanne, Switzerland. IMD is a world-renowned business school, ranked number one in multiple areas by the Financial Times, Forbes and Business Week, just to name a few. For example, Financial Times has ranked IMD #1 for executive education outside of the U.S. for the past five years.

  

Valtronic provided a case study for a group of fifty Executive MBA students. These were not ordinary students, but seasoned executives from all types of industries and backgrounds. Valtronic provided the students with a real world example of a business in a complex industry to analyze. For Valtronic, it offered the management team a chance to challenge the status quo, gain insight into current and future business improvements and test our long range plan and ideas for growth.

  

The week long session was full of insight, useful and sometimes critical feedback and meaningful teamwork sessions. That is precisely one of those sessions I wish to share with you.  

Here are members of the group getting direction on how the project will be managed.

  

Imagine fifty-six people as part of a cross-functional team with a clearly defined project. The team had never worked together but they have to work as a group now and in a very short time  complete the project. In real life. Valtronic must work on cross- functional teams that often involve not only our Customers, but our own engineers and technicians, outside consultants, university researchers, and regulatory experts. So, seeing how fifty-six people come together and accomplish a complex task certainly would be interesting.

  



The Project

 

From a small painting on an 8.5 x 11 piece of paper, the charge was to recreate the painting on a large super-sized canvas made up of six individual canvases...in two and a half hours!

  

 Valtronic's Head of Operations, Stephane Porchet, takes on the task of sizing  the small painted figures to the large canvas. Note the size of one of the originals from which we had to work.
 

In very quick order, the group broke into sub-groups confronting different aspects of the project. A strong leader took command of the project and provided clear direction to everyone. Team members recognized their skill sets and volunteered for work groups where they could provide the most assistance. Those with technical skills sized the geometrical shapes on to the canvas, marketing and sales individuals selected the colors to match the original painting, accountants watched the clock, and the IT individuals, well they hacked the computer and adjusted the countdown clock in an attempt to give everyone more time.

  

After being reset to the proper time, the ever present countdown clock reminded everybody of the schedule to be met. For my part (being the marketing type), I helped mix the paints to achieve the proper color and actually sponged the antique look onto many of the geometrical shapes, a new found skill set!

 
One team even set about the task of building the large wooden frame for the canvas. Remember, measure twice cut once!      

 

In the end, six smaller white canvases were pieced together on the large frame creating a close duplicate of the much smaller original. The image below shows the painting being moved to the outdoors for display in its temporary viewing place, note the size!    

  

  

  

 

This was an extremely intriguing exercise. The overall project proved that over fifty individuals when properly focused could accomplish a seemingly difficult task in a very short time and with great results. What contributed to the project's success?  Solid leadership, great program management, a motivated workforce and professional cooperation, along with good technical skill sets focused on the right areas. These are the qualities of a successful team.

  

Let us look at your next project together. By working together to clearly define your project scope and timetable, we can focus our teams and provide the leadership and direction necessary. Let us utilize the best of each of our skill sets and together make your next project a success!

  

Watch in the next newsletter for more about the IMD program.

  

 

Happy Thanksgiving

 
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