A pre-developed solution made bespoke
Historically Intellijoint’s design process with contract manufacturers had involved a lot of iterating to get their designs manufacturable. “Because we only manufacture orthopaedic instruments, we know how they should feel and function. It’s up to us to ensure that they are perfect before they leave the facility,” says McCabe.
But working with Enztec was different. Intellijoint soon found out that every design had already been considered from a manufacturing point of view.
What’s more, Enztec had already identified the market need for an adjustable cutting guide and had begun developing a solution in their back offices, ready for the day that the Intellijoint KNEE request came to their door.
“To our surprise, they already had a design developed that met most of our requirements.” McCabe and her team were impressed. With 80% of the work already done, the focus shifted to the final 20%, the bespoke modifications that would ensure the new product met every one of Intellijoint’s needs.
Having never worked with a company like Enztec before, Intellijoint’s Operations, Quality Assurance and Regulatory departments weren’t short of questions. “They patiently answered every one,” says McCabe, “and ensured all departments were comfortable and confident in the partnership, the design and the go-to-market strategy”.
“They held their design to a high standard and identified and fixed issues before we even became aware of them. The first component they manufactured, for example, met all our specifications, but the Enztec design team didn’t like the way it felt. They immediately adjusted the design to improve the performance for our next order.”
“The attention to detail and desire to deliver a part that functioned the way they intended sets them apart as design partners."