Production-ready laser ablation for sensitive medical device components
Project snapshot
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Challenge
Develop a laser process that met quality and throughput requirements
The customer required precise laser ablation of polymer and metallic components that were sensitive to thermal and oxidative degradation. They struggled to develop a laser process that could meet tight mechanical tolerances, cleanliness requirements, and manufacturing throughput. A production-capable solution was required to enable the product.
Innovation
Production-capable laser process and customized manufacturing tool
AIR partnered with Turner Laser Systems (TLS) to develop and integrate a laser process into a production-ready manufacturing system.
Key elements included:
- Investigating laser suitability and developing a process to customer specification.
- Designing a customized laser tool with a selected laser source, custom fixture, and material handling.
- Rapidly re-developing the laser process and modifying the tool design when the customer changed to a more thermally sensitive material after PO release.
- Installing the customized tool on time and supporting immediate pilot production.
- Providing contract manufacturing support during tool build to refine processes and produce customer samples.
Result
Pilot production launched immediately with accelerated time-to-market
The customized laser tool was installed on schedule, pilot production began the next day, and the customer reached a major product development milestone with laser processing as a key enabler.
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