Sandvik AB of Sweden will open a medical technology division in the city of Pune (100 miles inland from Mumbai) via its Indian subsidiary to provide manufacturing services for medical device customers. Sandvik is a supplier of materials and manufacturing services to medical device OEMs globally. The Sandvik Bioline medical material range includes stainless steel, titanium and cobalt chrome in various product forms, compliant with international standards for medical implants and instruments.
Hakan Kingstedt, managing director and president,Sandvik Asia explained that the main application areas for Sandvik’s medical materials are implants and instruments for orthopedics – primarily joint reconstruction, trauma, and spine. The product range also includes products suitable for dental as well as cardiovascular devices such as pacemaker lead wire. Other important application areas are surgical instrumentation, scalpels, bone saws, suture needles and more.
Chandrashekhar Puranik, Vice President, Business development, Sandvik MedTech said: “In India, Sandvik strives to create awareness in implant manufacturers to start using premium medical materials as per international standards. These standards demand lower level of impurities reducing the risk for corrosion.” Sandvik also offers capabilities such as prototyping, casting, forging, machining, tooling and finishing for value added products such as medical implants and instruments.
What this means
India is fast becoming a market for global medical device players. Their supply chain partners find it natural to develop local capabilities to serve the multinational who are already their clients. The India Expert expects Sandvik Asia and others like it to soon serve device companies that originate in India.
