Case Study: Leading Medical Device Company achieves mirror-quality, faster, lower-cost stainless-steel instrument finishing with Proto3000

Stainless Steel Surgical Instruments For Medical Device Industry

Leading Medical Device Company, a European manufacturer of high‑value stainless steel surgical and dental instruments, needed a faster, more consistent and environmentally friendly way to remove burrs, reduce surface roughness and preserve tight tolerances for reusable medical tools. Seeking to lower long lead times, high scrap rates and the heavy labor and waste of manual deburring and nutshell polishing, they engaged Proto3000 to evaluate and implement a DryLyte/DLyte solution (DLyte PRO500 dry electropolishing system).

Proto3000 developed a tailored DryLyte process with custom fixtures and parameters that produced mirror‑like, isotropic finishes (final Ra <0.2 µm) while removing only ~0.05 g per piece. The DLyte PRO500 treats 96 pieces per 60‑minute cycle (64 minutes including handling), enabling a one‑shift annual throughput of ~167,500 units, cutting process time by ~75% and reducing total costs by over 50% versus nutshell polishing. Proto3000’s solution also delivered zero‑scrap stable batches, improved corrosion resistance and proven biocompatibility, lowering environmental impact and worker exposure.