Q&A with Mike Ford, Business Development Manager, Temp-Flex®︎

25 Nov 2014

Hosted by Anthony Kalaijakis, Medical Strategic Marketing Manager

Q: The medical device market is looking for increasingly smaller interconnects and at the same time driving higher wire counts; how can Molex contribute to this challenge?

A: Good question. As our customers drive for higher conductor counts in smaller form factor sizes we continue to adapt our Temp-Flex product offering to this requirement. For instance, we recently developed and released our MediSpec 16 Filar Continuous Coil. Maintaining the same form factor and package size, we were able to double the amount of conductors in this medical product from 8 to 16.

Q: You mention your customers are driving Temp-Flex products in new ways and you are finding yourselves adapting. Are there any other ways you are being driven in the Continuous Coil product offering?

A: Yes, there’s also been a need to offer variable pitch coils on this product for ease of termination. By opening up the pitch lay near the point of termination customers can better prep and terminate the wires to the solder pad, flex or substrate.

Q: Historically Temp-Flex has been known for extruding biocompatible wire for invasive and implanted applications, what capabilities has Molex been working on to add value to MedTech customers?

A: Traditionally Temp-Flex supplied customers product by the reel, but now we have recognized Healthcare reforms are driving Medtech companies to focus on their core competencies and outsource capabilities that may have been done internally. As a result we are now offering our customers value added services such as cables cut to length and prepped ends for ease of termination to their end product.

Q: If your customer is looking for something more than a prepped cable and needs connectors on the ends can you support them?

A: Yes, Molex offers a broad portfolio of interconnect solutions from discrete connectors to full assemblies; you can find the offering on www.molex.com or contact your local Molex sales engineer for guidance.

Q: Have there been any other new exciting Temp-Flex products or capabilities introduced in 2014?

A: We now have the capability to support micro coax down to 48 AWG. Going along with the trend of larger quantities of conductors in a smaller package, we can offer micro coax down to 48 AWG discretely or in a bundled cable using stranded or solid conductor wire.

Q: You mention you are expanding with your medical customers, how are you doing this at the plant level?

A: Late last year we added a Class 10,000 clean room to better serve our expanding medical customer base. We also continue to reinvest in the plant by acquiring new extrusion lines, braiders and bundlers to grow our capacity and keep up with our customer demands.

Q: If I have a need for Temp-Flex products what is the best way of getting in contact with Molex?

A: With our global footprint, there is always a local Molex Sales Engineer nearby to help out. Find your local contact online here.

We also have two Temp-Flex Business Development Managers to further help with your design. David Smith handles the Western Half of the US and Asia while I handle the Eastern Half of the US and Europe. Our contact information is: david.smith1@molex.com and michael.ford@molex.com