In 2018, GTI Medical received an inquiry from the R&D engineers at Acclarent, a company specializing in ENT medical products and part of the J&J medical conglomerate, to manufacture a prototype for a product designed to extract fluid accumulations from the sinuses. They were looking for a partner to support them throughout the prototype manufacturing process, from development to the design freeze stage. At the beginning, the product developers presented a work plan that was scheduled to take 24 to 36 months, during which many iterations would be carried out until the product was finalized.
The collaborative work process involved a team of development engineers visiting GTI’s facility for a week each month. During these visits, the models produced based on the previous meeting’s planning were evaluated, and decisions were made regarding necessary improvements for the next iteration.
Each prototype manufacturing process included complex procedures such as laser cutting, laser welding, electrical wiring, surface treatments, laser marking, and CNC machining.
Every ten days, prototype models were sent to the company’s U.S. offices for QA testing. The feedback from the visiting development engineers led to upgrades and updates to the product plan.