Our High Performance Medical Solutions (HPMS) team from Proterial Cable America (PCA) understands the value of customization and offers real-time adjustments for customers seeking tailored medical components within our Research and Development Laboratory.
If a customer wants to make changes on the fly or experiment with different compounds, HPMS has an R&D lab available.
“The goal is to collaborate more with our customers,” says Tim Sabrowski, a R&D lab engineer.
The R&D lab qualifies as a clean room and offers privacy to customers because of its location at the back of the Ashaway, Rhode Island plant. It is fitted with a separate entrance, and Sabrowski says the R&D lab offers customers an interactive and immediate experience, rather than communicating back and forth over days or weeks. 
“A major advantage for customers is having them right in the conference room adjacent to the lab,” he says. “Ordinarily, they can’t see what’s happening.”
With original products, sometimes unique tooling is required, and HPMS has a custom tool shop on-site. Combining the tool shop with the R&D lab offers customers another impact on customization—they can work with PCA engineers on what the tool should look like and what materials should be used to make it.
“It could save weeks of time for a project,” Sabrowski says.
According to Sabrowski and Norbert Ansay, R&D Manager, there are hundreds, if not thousands, of variations that HPMS could use to make a tool or a component, which is convenient in case a customer wants a particular material.
“A lot of customers have a preferred material they stick to,” Ansay says.
But HPMS has another major use for the R&D lab as well. For years, when engineers wanted to experiment with new ways of making or doing things, they had to find a place in the plant to do it. That meant finding an open product line, which is uncommon at HPMS, or stopping production of a customer’s project.
Now, there is a dedicated area for the R&D engineers to experiment with and find ways to make products for customers cheaper, faster, and much more efficiently.
“We’re always looking for process improvements,” Ansay says. “You have problems, but you need to continue producing. But we can see if we can come up with a better way to do something and present it to the customer.”
Ansay says having the lab is ideal because they can run these experiments to improve customer service progression without having to slow down the manufacturing process.
HPMS offers on-site engineers to assist customers in developing medical device components or tubing using a wide range of compounds. Customers can access our advanced tooling, bring their own materials, and leave with samples in hand. 
Our goal is to help customers turn concepts into reality, and the R&D lab gives them the opportunity to not only use our top-of-the-line equipment but also take advantage of our deep understanding of medical tubing extrusion.
What kind of equipment can you expect from the lab?
Tooling: Crossheads, In-line Heads, Profile Dies, Multi-Lumen, Multi-Layer
Downstream Equipment: Take-off conveyors, Cooling Tanks/Vacuum Tanks, Payoff/Winders, Custom Precision Equipment
HPMS is a contract manufacturer for Medical OEMs worldwide with over 30 years of experience providing medical tubing and cable solutions.
Contact us today to learn more about the PCA-HPMS Research and Development Lab, how you might book it or any other questions you may have.
