Untouchable Results

One company that can speak intimately about the challenges of producing just-in-time (JIT) components for the implantable medical device market is FPD of McMurray, Pennsylvania. FPD is a fully integrated manufacturing and engineering company that provides high-quality forgings, machined components, and assemblies to the aerospace and medical industries.

Recently, FPD was challenged to produce an especially difficult part and found they needed added capacity and capabilities.

"The customer told us that the surface finish and geometries were so critical, you couldn’t even touch the final part with your bare hands after the final polish," said David Tenison, general manager and senior vice president of FPD.

FPD Company

FPD’s dedication to precision is evident in its finishing and assembly disciplines, including hand belting and polishing, multi-media surface texturing, high-energy media finishing and polishing, and laser marking.

The company uses advanced engineering to design quality into its processes, leveraging a proprietary design and manufacturing system based on a central database containing 3-D solid models of parts and all associated tools. Advanced forging simulation software is used to validate the forging and machining process, and vital information such as press loads, material flow, temperature profiles, and die loads. In addition, CNC programs are optimized to reduce cycle times with tool path simulation programs.

FPD has purchased several Makinos since its first in 2004; it currently operates three a81Ms and five a61 machines.

"We first approached Makino because of their reputation for fast, reliable, and accurate machines," said Tenison. "We compete on a global basis, and it is critical that we are the best."

Since they are designed for high-torque, high-speed machining, FPD has special applications for the a81Ms to run titanium parts for its medical and aerospace customers. The a61s are utilized in precise production work, due to their ability to quickly machine parts with close tolerances and fine finishes.

Artificial Knee Implant

FPD was awarded a contract to manufacture the femoral component of a leading artificial knee system. The knee system is a long-term, quality implant based on a clinically proven design. It is available in both posterior stabilized and anatomically correct cruciate retaining configurations, which provides the flexibility needed to address patients’ needs. In addition, instrument standardization and ease of identification keep the end-user in mind and promote functional efficiency.

The design of this femoral component is unique in that it has 96 percent femoral/tibial congruency, a deep patella groove, and a flared anterior flange to improve patella tracking. All of these characteristics promote greater flexibility compared to other artificial knee applications, but they also created several manufacturing challenges for FPD.

The part is made of cobalt chromium-molybendum alloy, which is often used in surgical implants due to its high strength and good polish. The part is extremely complex and employs difficult geometries, especially in the deep patella groove, which has to be precisely machined in order to reduce contact stresses against the tibial insert.

"The patella groove is difficult to machine because it has steep, constantly changing angles and smooth lines," explained Thomas Bugay, FPD’s production superintendent.

"Adding to the difficulty is the smooth, sweeping geometry of the profile tolerances and the fact that the final assembly is actually completed by the surgeon during the implantation procedure," he added, running his gloved finger over the mirror-like surface of the part.

Inaccurate tolerances could also increase the wear rate of the implant, causing additional medical problems for the patient.

"Before bidding the job, we knew we didn’t have the capacity or the machinery to efficiently produce this complex part," said Bugay. "We had to come up with a way to produce the part more quickly and more accurately than our competitors."

Machining Instead of Grinding

FPD was aware that the other manufacturers use a grinding process on the part to ensure the surface finish is achieved.

"Grinding is suitable for parts with simple surfaces, but it can lead to incorrect geometries," said Bugay. "This was not an option for us. Our process would have to allow for accuracy and surface finish, without sacrificing one for the other."

FPD engineers understood that in order to achieve accurate tolerances, the part would have to be machined. Machining is much more accurate than grinding because, over time, grinding wheels wear down, changing the geometry of the part.

"Typically, ground parts have many rough blend areas that need to be worked by hand to meet the required tolerances and geometries," said Bugay. "While this is fine for certain parts, it wouldn’t work well for a medical component that is produced on demand, such as this."

"We have a very capable engineering and design process," commented Tenison. "However, since the femoral component presented such complex challenges, we decided to engage Makino’s Turnkey Engineering Services to determine the most efficient design and manufacturing process."

New Process Yields Untouchable Results

"The goal of the project was to deliver a complete process that accurately and timely machined the entire outside surface of the knee component in just one operation," said Mike Boyd, Makino application engineer who was in charge of the FPD Turnkey. The finish had to be at 16 Ra and the cycle time of less than 40 minutes per part. In order to achieve both, they needed the complete system to include the proper machine, options, tooling, fixturing, coolant, and CNC program.

"Tool life was a concern and, after many tests, a Hanita Vision series carbide endmill that yielded the best tool life was chosen," added Boyd. "They also utilize a shrink-fit holder to improve runout and clamping power. Because getting production up and running quickly was a concern, we chose a fixture and CAD/CAM software that FPD was already using."

A Parlec tombstone provides quick-change tooling plates to accommodate the six different part sizes, while allowing FPD to mount eight parts at once, either all the same size or different sizes.

Whereas the previous manufacturer would grind the part to desired tolerances and then finish the part by hand, using the a61, FPD can machine the component to ±0.0005 inch profile and ±0.0025 inch datum tolerances on one machine.

FPD’s a61 was configured with several options to ensure proper machining of the knee component’s sweeping geometries, including Makino’s Super Geometric Intelligence. This option allows extremely precise axis motion using small block, point-to-point movements, while maintaining faster feedrates and quality. In addition, the dynamic fixture offset option was selected, eliminating the need to re-post the CNC programs for any minor positional fixture adjustments. This, too, is an advanced function that calculates the delta between the theoretical location of the part and the actual location, all "on the fly" and transparent to the operator.

After machining, the part is hand-polished to a mirror-like surface finish of 4 Ra or better. The resulting surface finish is so fine that the part can be handled only with gloves, as contact with bare hands could scratch the part and force rework.

Using this new process, FPD is able to meet the production on-demand needs of the medical device manufacturer and can deliver finished components on time, every time.

"Accuracy and efficiency are critical with this project," commented Tenison. "If you can see a flaw, the part is unacceptable. In addition, we are manufacturing this part in a JIT manner, so we need to be able to produce parts as soon as we receive an order."

By combining the technical know-how of Makino’s application engineers with FPD’s engineering talent, the team was able to determine the most effective method to cut the part and identify which machines were best suited for the task.

Collaboration is Key to Success

Medical implant parts are increasing in demand and complexity, and the femoral component manufactured by FPD is no exception. Having worked with Makino for several years, FPD engaged the company’s Turnkey Services for its technical knowledge, which, when combined with FPD’s own engineering expertise, proved to be a winning combination.

FPD Company
McMurray, Pennsylvania
Phone: (724) 941-5540
E-mail: [email protected]
Web: www.fpdcompany.com