STAINLESS FRUIT certified according to medical standards

© Image source: STAINLESS FRÜCHTL

For medical technology, STAINLESS FRÜCHTL supplies pre-processed stainless steel parts. Certification according to the medical standard 13485 guarantees seamless processing and traceability. © Image source: STAINLESS FRÜCHTL

The Esslingen stainless steel dealer STAINLESS FRÜCHTL is now certified according to the medical standard DIN EN ISO 13485. © Image source: STAINLESS FRÜCHTL

No one can stand them and no one wants to have them – especially not in their own body. And yet, bones drills, countersinks, screws, or implants are vital for many. The implant and instrument steel processed by the most renowned medical technology companies often comes from STAINLESS FRÜCHTL. The Esslingen-based stainless steel dealer is now certified according to the medical standard DIN EN ISO 13485. Additionally, it is recognized as a system-relevant company with a special delivery obligation.

"We must adhere to our now certified product quality and delivery capability along with traceability, there are no excuses," emphasizes Wolfgang Sachsenmaier, Managing Director of STAINLESS FRÜCHTL. The Esslingen stainless steel dealer is now certified according to the medical standard DIN EN ISO 13485. With this, the 1972-founded company belongs to an exclusive circle of selected providers in Germany. Besides the significantly more demanding documentation requirements for all process steps from supplier selection through storage obligations to traceability, the dealer also guarantees absolute delivery capability.

And indeed, the supply chain for the important instrument steel of grade 1.4404 or AISI 316L, with its special requirements for quality and purity, must not be interrupted, just like for implant material. The company from Esslingen am Neckar not only maintains its own stock of surgical steels but has also taken additional measures to ensure delivery capability. These include consignment warehouses near customers.

Pandemic and storms threaten supply chains

How supply chains are threatened is clearly demonstrated by recent events that no one could have imagined. The COVID-19 pandemic has had worldwide impacts on material flow. When borders suddenly close, trusted trade routes are blocked, or suppliers become insolvent, the previous strategy of stockpiling, just-in-time delivery, and global procurement is being reevaluated. Suddenly, costs for disruptions to the supply chain escalate massively, and purely price-oriented supplier selection becomes a trap. Due to the global dimension of the corona crisis, a second-source strategy no longer helps. And when the boom following such a crisis leads to an overheated demand, the situation continues just as dramatically. More regionally but no less critically, the flooding disaster in the Ahr Valley has shown what can happen.

STAINLESS FRÜCHTL secures delivery capability through special measures. Long-standing and close relationships with suppliers, often with fixed contracts, are maintained. This allows the company to also offer its customers supply agreements for half a year, a full year, or multiple years. Furthermore, the dealer can place a batch of the steels to be delivered for each customer from medical technology into its own warehouse or a consignment warehouse and bill after withdrawal notifications. "Even a truck washed away by a flood would ultimately not interrupt the material flow," assures Sachsenmaier.

Delivery security distributed across multiple shoulders

And having two warehouses regionally dispersed also increases security. Customers reward the Esslingen team with loyalty. But the costs for expanded storage do not have to be borne by STAINLESS FRÜCHTL alone. After all, many well-known and globally recognized medical device manufacturers from Germany and Europe are among its customers.