New contract inspection services prioritises medical component manufacturers

Coordinate measuring machine (CMM) manufacturer LK Metrology, Castle Donington, has introduced a subcontract inspection service in support of ventilator and other medical component and equipment manufacturers in the UK and Ireland that may not have sufficient quality control resource in-house.

When the UK government launched its Ventilator Challenge UK, the consortium behind it asked multinational firms such as Rolls-Royce, BAe and GKN with robust experience in supply chain management to identify and involve OEMs and subcontract machinists in the aerospace, automotive and other industries to boost the production of medical parts. It was designed to meet the target of 30,000 extra ventilators needed by the National Health Service to cope with the surge in Covid-19 patients. They were looking for manufacturers with spare machining capacity or an ability to acquire more urgently, as well as ISO accreditation and expertise in metrology to ensure the high level of quality required when making parts for medical equipment.

Many firms had the first two prerequisites but not the third. It prompted LK Metrology to expand the existing contract inspection service run from its headquarters in Castle Donington and make it available exclusively to companies registered to supply ventilator and other medical parts.