| Strand Products Inc. Press Release |  |
MDM West Press Release Oct 2006
October 19, 2006 - The rapid growth of the Medical Device market has resulted in one "old line" wire rope Company transforming itself into a focused supplier to the unique needs of the Medical Device market. Strand Products, Inc, Santa Barbara, CA, has expanded its engineering, production, and Quality Management capabilities to meet the rigorous demands of the Medical Device community.
Strand has added engineers from three West Coast universities that are recognized as the top engineering schools in the United States. As mechanical engineers, they bring expertise in engineering design, cable swaging, material sciences including exotic materials, and the manufacturing practices unique to the Medical Device market.
Strand notes that the medical requirements for endoscopic devices and the like often require the smallest cable possible to minimize incision size, while meeting strength and flexibility requirements. This has resulted in a capability for utilizing tungsten cable in many applications. This cable provides exceeding high strength to size ratios. For instance, an 8 x 19 cable, containing 201 separate strands of 0.001 inch diameter tungsten, and measuring 0.018 inches in diameter has an ultimate strength of about 65 lbs force.
In addition to expanding engineering capabilities, Strand built a class 10,000 Clean Room dedicated to fabricating cable assemblies for the Medical Device community. This clean room includes special cutting systems for tungsten wherein the cable end is fused to prevent splaying without oxidation of the metal, swaging machines, high powered optical inspection equipment, proof testing capability, and specialized bagging and labeling equipment complying with the stringent requirements of the medical community.
During the upgrade, Strand installed networked computer systems with advanced Material Management, Finance and Accounting, Customer Communications, and CAD Engineering capabilities. Already an ISO 9001 company, Strand upgraded its Clean Room Quality Management to the more rigorous ISO 13485 certification.
