(Delcam: Birmingham, UK) -- CAD/CAM developer, Delcam, has established a dedicated health care division to provide a greater focus on this increasingly important part of its business. The new division will help companies across the medical, dental, and associated industries to apply Delcam’s expertise and experience in taking advantage of the latest design and manufacturing techniques. Delcam’s commercial director, Bart Simpson, has been appointed as the head of the new division.
“Companies in the health care industry face the same demands from their patients that our traditional engineering clients see from their customers for faster delivery of better and cheaper products,” explains Delcam’s managing director, Clive Martell. “Patients want to receive higher quality products and services, and they want to complete their treatment in the shortest possible time. At the same time, health care companies are under pressure to provide this higher quality at lower cost and to increase their productivity to meet the growing demand. These requirements can only be met through the application of more advanced and more automated technology.”
Delcam’s increased emphasis on the health care industry comes at a time when the sector is expanding rapidly and when it is much more receptive to computer-based technology. The aging population in industrialized countries and the growing affluence of the emerging economies mean that the health care industry is seeing global growth. Through its existing engineering business, Delcam is established in more than 80 countries worldwide and can provide international support to larger health care providers and original equipment manufacturers.
Equally, Delcam’s focus on the toolmaking and subcontracting industries means that the company’s staff are used to dealing with smaller companies on a local level. All Delcam offices, whether wholly-owned subsidiaries, joint ventures, or independent resellers, are renowned for the high level of support they provide to all their customers.
Delcam is, of course, already active in many areas of the health care business. Its design, reverse engineering, machining, and inspection software are used in a wide range of applications, from the production of prostheses to the manufacture of surgical instruments, and all types of medical packaging. This is especially true for the PartMaker machining system for turn-mill equipment and Swiss-type lathes. These machines are used extensively for the manufacture of medical and dental components, to the extent that around 70 percent of PartMaker sales already come from the health care industry.
In addition, Delcam has introduced several specific products for the health care market over the last two years. These include the DentCAD and DentMILL programs for the design and manufacture of dental restorations, and the OrthoModel and OrthoMill software for the development of orthotics. The company also offers special versions of its CRISPIN range of footwear design and manufacturing software for the production of orthopaedic footwear.
The common theme with all these products is that they take existing Delcam technology and add a dedicated interface that uses imagery and terminology from the health care sector. This makes the software easy to learn and quick to use for health care professionals, even those that are not familiar with using computer-based design and manufacturing.
