
With experience spanning nearly 25 years, Minnesota-based Formacoat has been at the cutting edge of medical device coating application science – from catheters and guide wires to drug-eluting devices and rolls of mesh and film – it covers them all, and prides itself on being faster, more cost effective and at a higher quality than the competition.
Along with its myriad of coating options, featuring over 90 different coatings from 45 different vendors globally, Formacoat offers a one-stop solution for coating selection, application, and excellence.
Innovation
How does a company become one of the premier medical device coating houses in the world? The answer is simple: innovation.
“At Formacoat, we are never satisfied with what we have,†as Paulsen explains. “It’s why we have remained agnostic in our coating selection process; we know there is no such thing as the ultimate coating solution. Every device is different and requires its own unique coating solution, due to design, chemistry of the substrate or the intended functionality of the device.â€
And the reason their available coating selection is best in class is down to the application technology – custom designed and transformable to meet any coating opportunity.
Scaling up
Scalability has been the latest challenge, and Formacoat has proven equal to the task. “Typically, there are two different curing modes when applying coatings – thermal and ultraviolet (UV),†Paulsen states. “As our customers have grown over the last two decades, so have their demands and volumes. Versatility of equipment has become crucial. By making modifications to established equipment, we can now produce regardless of the cure method at all volume levels.â€
What does that mean for their customers? Formacoat can now produce at any scale, using any curing method, from batch sizes of a couple of hundred to orders of hundreds of thousands.
In terms of its roll-coating process, Formacoat has modified its Gen 3 Roll coater, which does reel-to-reel (R2R) coating on a variety of films, mesh, and other materials. With a built-in camera system, it can show customers definitive proof that every inch of requested surface is coated and complete – it provides the evidence that not only is Formacoat’s coating selection and equipment second to none, but their coating quality is the best possible.
Formacoat continues to evolve its medical coating applications faster than the competition and, with years of experience and innovative attitude, it continues to meet the changing demands of its customers.
To learn more about Formacoat’s coatings services, download the document below.