Celebrating Twenty Years of Medical Device Manufacturing in Michigan

BY BRIAN STERN, DIRECTOR OF SALES AND MARKETING, EXCEL MEDICAL PRODUCTS

This year, Excel Medical Products will celebrate its 20th year in business as a medical device OEM and contract manufacturer.

The medical device industry landscape is now significantly different due to regulatory changes, and advances in medicine and technology. Nevertheless, the core values, commitment to quality and continuous improvement, and customer-centric focus of the company remains the same.

Excel founded its business upon the manufacture of a line of OEM hemostasis valves, which are commonly used in various diagnostic and interventional procedures. To this day, the hemostasis valves continue to be molded and assembled in Excel’s cleanroom manufacturing facility in Wixom, MI. Over the years, the product offering has been expanded and Excel has set itself apart in the hemostasis valve market because of the capability and willingness to customize the product according to customer specifications, for a variety of applications.

As the company grew its hemostasis valve and PTCA accessory business, opportunities developed to perform contract manufacturing services for other OEM firms. As an FDA registered and ISO 13485 certified manufacturer, Excel already had the facility and quality system in place to expand its service offerings. Beginning with just a few small run projects with startups, Excel developed experience and expertise in helping customers launch new products by collaborating on design for manufacturing and packaging, performing various types of qualifications, and coordinating sterilization validations.

Excel continued to expand its cleanroom injection molding, assembly, packaging, testing, and distribution capabilities, and gradually developed longer term contract manufacturing relationships based on consistent, cost-effective quality, on time delivery, and responsive customer service. Some customers were initially attracted to Excel because they were turned away by larger contract manufacturing firms. However, many of those customers have stayed with Excel as their projects have grown to be successful because they have come to feel that the team at Excel treats their product as if it were their own. The company continues to take on small startup projects, but now performs contract manufacturing for some of the largest medical device companies in the world.

The last twenty years of growth have not always been smooth. Like companies in just about every other industry, the last three years have presented considerable challenges for Excel. At times, the supply chain and labor market disruptions made it nearly impossible to produce and deliver as planned. Communication, adaptation, and flexibility were required to overcome these obstacles, and because of the passion and resilience of its team, Excel was able to come out of the pandemic era stronger than ever.

Although the supply chain and labor market continue to present challenges, Excel continues to grow and invest in the future. The company has acquired new injection molding machines and added to its prototyping services with enhanced 3D printing capabilities for precision fabrication of parts in a range of sizes. Excel has also been fortunate to find new talented and dedicated members for its team.

The future looks bright for the company. Here’s to another twenty years of medical device manufacturing in Michigan!