Streamlining Medtech Innovation: Vantedge Medical’s First Step Program

In this Expert Insight interview, Medical Design Briefs’ Sherrie Trigg speaks with Anthony Bracale and Cassie Haupers of Vantedge Medical about the company’s First Step program — a collaborative, product-based approach that accelerates medical device development from prototype to production. The First Step program was born from direct OEM feedback and is designed to address pain points in early-stage development, including precision prototyping, DFM/assembly guidance, and seamless scale-up. With dedicated equipment, robust metrology capabilities, and a cross-functional team that includes engineers, toolmakers, and quality experts, Vantedge ensures rapid iteration and manufacturing readiness. Ultimately, First Step empowers device makers to reduce time to market and establish repeatable, high-quality production processes — delivering innovative solutions that improve patient outcomes.

Transcript

00:00:01 Welcome to this expert insight. I am Sheri Trigg, editor and director of content with medical design briefs and we are here with Anthony Raui, director of strategic accounts and Cassie Hoppers, global director of business development at Vantage Medical. They will talk to us about new product development and how first step a collaborative productbased approach can

00:00:23 optimize a seamless transition from prototype to production. Can you uh each uh please tell us a bit about yourselves and your respective roles at Vantage Medical?
>> Sure. Uh thank you Sher. It's nice to be here. Uh my name is Anthony Bkali. I'm director of strategic accounts for Vantage Medical. Um I've been in the industry and the medtec side for about

00:00:46 coming on 10 years. Uh prior to that I spent most of my career in the steel industry. So I'm on the manufacturing side now. Um, and I'm uh happy to be on the uh Vandage Medical team.
>> And I'm Cassandra Hoppers. You could call me Cassie like you did Sherry. Um, global director of business development. I've been in the space Anthony, believe it or not, 17 years. Man, I got you beat

00:01:09 here. Um, but prior to this role, I was in operations and have stepped over into the commercial space. Um, but thank you, Sher, for having us.
>> Wonderful. So uh what is the first step program and how does it differ from your standard manufacturing services for medical device components?
>> So we like to think of first step is a a basket of solutions. The way it it it

00:01:33 originated was really kind of voice of the customer. We surveyed a lot of the major OEMs that we work with and tried to identify where the pain points were in new product development for MedTech. Um so you know the whole suite of what we offer through first step uh aims to really be an answer to those problems um from prototyping to the iterations that uh you go through uh through that

00:02:00 process uh delivering precision prototypes which you know has been a challenge with you know some of the traditional methods of getting prototypes. So, we deliver parts to print and we start from the very very beginning, the earliest point in the process. Sometimes we're just paper sketches, right? Uh so we take that product uh all the way through. We learn

00:02:24 all the way. So we I like to say we own the learning curve.
>> Um so what that does is it compresses the time that it takes to get to market. uh every uh NPD project that I've had in MedTech, ultimately there's there's a lot of pressure on the OEM side to get that product developed, get it validated, get the uh manufacturing process uh dialed in uh and get that

00:02:50 product to market. So that's that's really what First Step is all about. And Sherry, if I can just jump in on that. I think Anthony hit the nail on the head on it, but it really also allows us to collaborate with design for manufacturing and design for assembly uh upfront as well and really allows Vantage to get an understanding of where the end device is going to be used.

00:03:14 That's like another key element of first step as well.
>> Excellent. Well, so can you walk us through the steps involved in the first step process from initial contact to prototype delivery?
>> Sure. Sure. I'd be happy to. So, you know, like I mentioned earlier, we want to get into the game very very early with, you know, kind of an initial

00:03:39 meeting to to understand, you know, what the the deliverables are on the customer side, right? We want to understand the um the product uh what its intended use is how it's going to change the world uh or or improve the life of uh of an individual. Uh so we really kind of get in um and and start with that understanding move to um design review. Sometimes like I said it could be a

00:04:07 sketch. Um, a lot of times it's it's usually some some rough draft uh drawings and we get into uh the DFM process. On the OEM side, your engineers and and product designers, they have the patient in mind, which is key throughout the whole process,
>> right? And and they consider the patient and then the surgeon who's going to use that instrument or device, you know, its

00:04:33 fit, feel, function on that side. And when you bring it to a manufacturer like Vantage Medical, you know, those things are all
>> rightly important, but we look at it as how do you make it?
>> How are you going to make it, you know, and challenge the tolerances go through the DFM and that just kind of kicks off the whole um process and then it it it

00:04:55 turns into, you know, prototype needs and and all those iterations that get it to final form.
>> Right. Right. So for high precision components, what metrology tools and verification processes are used to validate these precision tolerances?
>> Like anything, it depends on the project, right? And and what the needs

00:05:18 are. Uh, Vantage across all of our sites has a a wide wide range of different metrology capabilities, uh, different brands of of CMMs and, um, touch probe,
>> uh, infrared, white light, uh, optical laser scanning, you name it. U, we have a a way to inspect it, measure it, and make sure that it's right. Cash, you want to jump in on any of that?
>> Yeah, certainly. And I think the big

00:05:48 thing there is it allows us to align with our customers on how they're going to be inspecting when they, you know, receive the product on the incoming side.
>> Yeah.
>> First does allow that partnership upfront and it's very key to get that right out of the gate.
>> Yeah. Having having inspection

00:06:08 correlation between the manufacturer and the OEM is really critical and with a broad base of uh instrument instruments that we have a lot of times we could share the programs um and and often time use the same machine to uh to perform the inspection. That way that correlation data if you're if you're measuring it on on our end on one machine and they're uh measuring it on

00:06:34 another a different machine a lot of times you don't uh you don't correlate. So correlation is key helps the process move along a lot faster and smoother.
>> U excellent. So how does your team proactively address uh DFM issues before prototyping begins?
>> With a lot of discussion. Um I I think you know a lot of times when we see uh early prints, initial prints, parts are

00:07:01 are made perfectly you know uh the corners are crisp the design is is usually a little bit challenging. Uh in a stamped component, long long parts and you know flat flatness requirements, you name it. Um these are all things that I think need a hardy discussion and to and to be challenged. Um on on the uh OEM side, there's always going to be cost pressure. You know, they've got to be

00:07:26 competitive in the market. Um so a lot of the DFM goes to making really optimizing a process to make a component.
>> So um you know, it's it's just back and forth. And and what's good about First Step is we really roll all the available resources that you'd want into the project. So it wouldn't be uncommon for us to have a um a teams call or a

00:07:53 face-to-face meeting where we have a tool maker, we have application engineers, we have QES and Emmes, all the right people in the room which brings you know a real wide range of perspectives on on focused on this part. So um you know I think the the DFM piece is critical. um you get through a round or two of prototypes and then it changes and then there's more DFM. So, it really

00:08:24 is um it it's it's a great process and you know when you when you think about the number of people that we bring together in some of these teams to develop the the projects. One of the best comments I I heard there was an executive for one of our OEMs uh in on the call. Um and these are engaging lively calls, right? uh he said I I couldn't tell who was on what team. It

00:08:47 was it's just a deep level of collaboration and and again with you know the goal is is to get that product developed and get it to market develop a um a reliable uh supply chain for it a repeatable supply chain. So that's uh that's what we aim to do.
>> And one more thing to add to that Sherry too is
>> you know the OEMs have their

00:09:14 like arena of expertise, but then they're allowed to lean on us for the machining and manufacturing side. Uh, and that's where we're the experts and we're able to help them. And then bringing those two pieces together, like Anthony said, we're all on the same team, it makes the design work for everything for the patient and then also in the manufacturing, the quality side

00:09:38 of things, all of it.
>> Oh yes, absolutely. So uh once a prototype is validated, how easily can it transition to high volume production?
>> Yeah. Once the prototype gets to um well once you get to design lock on the part um that's when it starts to go over the fence into the uh into the operation side and and uh into scale production.

00:10:07 One of the big things about First Step is we have dedicated equipment and dedicated resources that are focused on delivering the uh the the prototypes and development. Good thing about Vantage Medical is is a lot of times the equipment that we're running the prototypes on
>> is the equipment that we're going to scale up and run into production. That's

00:10:29 a benefit to that's a benefit to us um because that allows us to move very rapidly. Um you know we've got hundreds of CNC machines across our our company. So when you're doing this if it's a if it's a machine part you just transition that into into production. Um and with the broad team we have operations folks in the mix. So it's not like we go through all this development work and

00:10:57 then we heave it over the wall to operations. They're aware of it. They know what's going on. Um they know what the expectation is of uh for the customer. Uh and they know uh what the deliverable is. So that whole scale up piece, it's it's a pretty smooth transition and um and and it and it moves uh moves us forward fast.
>> Wonderful. Uh so uh let's uh wrap it up

00:11:23 with this. How does your culture of craftsmanship show up in the way teams work with customers?
>> And I'll start off with this one, Anthony, if you don't mind,
>> please. Um and and Sherry, we didn't really talk about Vantage Medical, but it is a combination of seven different sites across the US and a makeup of five different companies coming together up

00:11:48 under this Vantage Medical brand. And back in 2023, we rebranded to Vantage Medical. And what was really neat is we were able to bring in these culture core competencies really what Vantage is about and what it means. And there's a few that stand out to me and I'm sure Anthony can say what stands out to to himself as well. But it's this nononsense

00:12:16 like the expertise that we have, our dedication to craftsmanship and quality and that is real. I mean because we are um helping improve lives and help improve lives and um you know you need to have that dedication and that willingness to work hard that you know uh like I said nononsense mentality and I get frustrated with fluff. Um, so I like to see when things, you know,

00:12:50 happen and I think it's really awesome to see not just in our first step program at Vantage Medical, but once you also get into the scalable state of things really just those key things coming out. Yeah,
>> if I if I could add to that, one of the terms that we hear often uh is grit. Um, you know, if if you look at, you know, the a cross-section of our company and

00:13:17 most of the people that you'll engage with, nononsense people. Cassie use the word fluff. There's not a lot of fluff. We we dig in. We're experts at what we do. We're very grounded. Uh, the parts we make are high precision. Um, and I I like to say that we're no nonsense. I mean, just as a as a company, um, you know, that that grit that dig in. Um it's it's what I see in all the people

00:13:42 that I deal with across the company. You know, we we're seven companies wide uh plants wide across the US and it's a it's a very similar culture from from plant to plant. The people are reliable, the promises we make. Um our customers rely on them to uh to have when we say they're going to. And then on on the technology side, it's it's a cutting edge culture. If you look around our

00:14:07 plants and the capabilities that we have, the kinds and types of equipment that we have, it's the best in the world. Um, so that I think sums up who we are from a culture standpoint.
>> Well, I really appreciate both of you joining me today for sharing information about this program and how it enables this uh seamless transition and presents your customers with this collaborative

00:14:33 approach. Thank you so much.
>> Oh, hey, thanks for having us. Um, I hope anybody who sees this, if they they want to engage with Vantage Medical on a First Step program, uh, give us a call. Thank you.