Delcam joins Singapore's MedTech Manufacturing Consortium

Delcam’s Singapore-based subsidiary, Delcam South-East Asia, has become a founder member of the MedTech Manufacturing Consortium, which has been set up to accelerate growth of the medical technology industry in the country. The consortium will offer consultancy services, networking services and a graduate diploma programme.

It has been set up by Singapore Institute of Manufacturing Technology and the Workforce Development Agency, which have injected S$10 million into technology and manpower development for the sector over the next five years. Other partners include IE Singapore, SPRING Singapore, Singapore Precision Engineering and Tooling Association, Biomedical Engineering Society (Singapore), and the Agency for Science, Technology & Research.

According to the Economic Development Board, the medical technology industry in Singapore doubled its manufacturing output from S$1.5 billion in 2000 to about S$3 billion in 2008. By 2015, the sector aims to reach S$5 billion.

This high level of growth is typical of the rapid expansion in the global healthcare market. It has prompted Delcam to establish a dedicated Healthcare 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 is, of course, already active in many areas of the healthcare business. Its design, reverse engineering, machining and inspection software are used in a wide range of applications from the production of prostheses, through 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% of PartMaker sales already come from the healthcare industry.

In addition, Delcam has introduced several specific products for the healthcare 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 healthcare sector. This makes the software easy to learn and quick to use for healthcare professionals, even those that are not familiar with using computer-based design and manufacturing.