Feature in Trade JournalPneumatic Shrinks
When an established company decides to enter a new market, specifically the medical equipment manufacturing market, and its sales to that market go from 0% to 60% in four years, a number of conclusions can be drawn: 1) the company’s products fill a market need; 2) both its products and the service it provides must be of exceptional quality; and 3) the company’s management must be motivated and focused. What remains is the question of why the company would decide to make such a radical market shift in the first place.
For Aerodyne Controls, a specialist in the design and manufacture of high-reliability, custom pneumatic valves and pressure regulators, solenoid valves, manifolds, assemblies, centrifuges, and mercury free motion switches, it was a matter of survival. Since its founding in 1958, Aerodyne had been exclusively a military contractor, a component house, supplying pneumatic components for a broad range of applications. In 1964 it produced its first product for NASA (in fact, every manned US space craft since the Mercury mission has had an Aerodyne assembly in service on board). In the following decade the company expanded its product line to include mercury free motion switches for military applications, and by now the answer to why Aerodyne Controls decided to expand into new markets is becoming clear. By the early 1990’s the military market was downsizing considerably.
The management of Aerodyne Controls saw an impending crisis that, if not addressed, would probably mean the end of Aerodyne. They hired Zeskind Associates, a Massachusetts research consulting firm, to help them to determine in what markets their expertise might best be applied and to develop the strategies necessary to meet a host of new challenges.
What Aerodyne Controls had to offer any new market was their considerable experience in pneumatic technology. Since every military contract required custom design and qualification, Aerodyne Controls' engineers were problem solvers, developing valves, pressure regulators, power packs, and manifold assemblies that performed reliably in extreme environments (in temperatures ranging from -400° F to +1000° F). In addition, these products had the added advantage of being smaller and lighter to save space and weight, always a scarce commodity in space and military applications. With characteristic directness, Miller describes his company’s engineering and manufacturing staff as "pneumatic shrinks". He considers his company’s strength as being able to look at an existing system and introduce change; improve reliability and increase system life by simplifying the mechanism and reducing its component parts. Miniaturization would, ultimately, provide the key to the company’s success in its new market.
So in the 1990's, the question was which market to penetrate. The markets identified as providing the best opportunity based on Aerodyne Controls' existing culture were appliance, automotive, analytical instrumentation, medical, and civil aeronautics. Although considered by some as the most difficult to break into, the medical and analytical instrument markets were chosen primarily because the demands of qualification were as stringent as they were for military programs (if not more stringent), and because the principals saw so many applications which could benefit from "pneumatic shrinking".
Then the real work began. The company was not without experience in nonmilitary applications, but that didn’t lessen the impact the commitment to the new market had on the corporation. Says Dick Graeb, "A tremendous ideological change was necessary, mainly within management. In the first place, you can’t expect to get a long-term commitment from commercial companies. You have to absorb the cost of R&D up front, and manufacturing is now done almost universally on a ‘just-in-time’ basis. But Aerodyne Controls was always an entrepreneurial firm, willing to take risks."
Other challenges involved adapting Aerodyne Controls' specialized products to nonmilitary applications, establishing credibility with commercial markets, and making the cost of their specialized pneumatic products competitive. One advantage that came from Aerodyne Controls' military experience, however, was a thorough understanding of documentation and two-way confidentiality. Another was its flexibility when it came to logistical support of the customer. "Our customers may place an order in June", remarks Graeb, "then decide to put it off until September. We have the experience to deliver high volume requirements on a moment’s notice." But first and foremost, Aerodyne Controls had to find new customers. Says Graeb, "We started from ground zero, simply knocking on doors, knowing that it might take up to two years before we actually got in the door".
The company’s first customer was a Cranston, RI, based manufacturer of blood separation equipment for operating room conditions. That was in 1991. Next came a multinational German manufacturer for whom Aerodyne Controls designed a subassembly for a blood diagnostic technique driven by pneumatics. Aerodyne Controls currently makes five products for this company - including subassemblies and components. Now Aerodyne Controls derives more than 50% of its business from the medical manufacturing market, specializing in applications requiring greater reliability in smaller packages.
That’s exactly the situation suited to Aerodyne Controls' expertise. And although Aerodyne Controls will continue to serve the military segment, it has made a successful move to the medical market. The reputation it earned in military ranks for innovation (it has fifteen patents) is spreading in other markets. What is remarkable is the time in which the transition has been accomplished - under five years. One might even say it’s a process that Aerodyne has "pneumatically shrunk".
Reducing the Size of a Cardiac Assist Manifold/Solenoid Assembly to a Handheld unit.
Since 1969 Arrow International has been dedicated to the development and manufacture of Intra-Aortic Balloons (IAB’s) and Intra-Aortic Balloon Pumps (IABP’s), the latter a closed loop helium flow system. In response to the growing needs of patient support, Arrow introduced in 1993 the KAAT II Pluse IABP.
A model of compactness, the KAAT II Plus has no exposed parts and its connections are recessed. The system includes a lightweight 500 psi helium canister to provide a minimum of 21 days of continuous pumping, or a refillable 2,000 psi D-size cylinder to provide an extended helium supply.
With Arrow International’s established presence in the market, the KAAT II Plus found immediate acceptance in the industry. Nevertheless, Arrow’s IABP engineering team had their eyes on the future. They felt their system could be further refined, particularly the large manifold and solenoid valve system. The evolution of medical instrumentation is always toward more functions and greater reliability in smaller packages. So in early 1993, the Engineering team was already thinking about redesigning the IABP. It was then that Dick Graeb made initial contact with Arrow International.
Arrow was willing, at first, to give Aerodyne Controls the chance to redesign the check valve between the IABP’s small and large helium canisters. The result was an extremely light (1.2 lb) component able to handle 2000 psi. It gave Arrow the confidence to work with Aerodyne on the greater project of miniaturizing the IABP manifold/solenoid assembly.
The result is a new IABP manifold/solenoid assembly that sits comfortably in the palm of the hand. Arrow’s new IABP is currently in the 510K process, but its introduction is anticipated this year.
So evolution in medical instrumentation has been served and a more reliable, hand held, IABP is soon to be available.
Aerodyne Controls - specializing in pneumatic control systems and pneumatic power systems. The mercury free motion switches experts.
