After 2020, the year of pivoting to meet emergency Covid-19 PPE manufacturing requirements, 2021 has proven to be a year when Potomac expanded innovation in order to meet ever more demanding customer challenges in a variety of industries.
Although cool, new concepts in the medical device, microfluidics, micro-electronics, aerospace, or consumer industries may grab all the headlines, innovation in manufacturing processes are equally important in getting new products to mainstream markets. That’s where Potomac’s expertise shines. From prototype to long production runs, Potomac has developed the hardware, software, measurement, quality control systems, and processes to ensure success for new products.
Rapid Prototyping
Every product starts with demonstrating proof of concept by building a prototype. But the initial design must also show that the idea can be manufactured economically and ultimately, in high volume.
Potomac has enough customer experience to have created innovations for producing viable prototypes. From modeling and simulations to iterative customer testing, 21st century methods ensure that a final prototype hits the market fully optimized, both for end-user satisfaction and manufacturability.
By innovating business practices, Potomac also has been able to identify up-and-coming startups with high potential for long term market success. Rather than turning away entrepreneurs, Potomac takes a big picture view and works with the best candidates as partners toward a better future.
Truly Advanced Manufacturing
Potomac’s R&D engineering depth allows us to invent unique processes and equipment in-house, as well as upgrade purchased machines to improve performance.
Innovations in 2022 include laser welding of plastics, building 3D Printed fixtures for miniature parts being laser or CNC micro-machined, developing sophisticated alignment tools to accurately register parts within 10’s of microns for assembly, and creating finely tuned calibration tools to integrate an entire manufacturing cell into a factory system.
Automated Inspection 
Production, though, must also ensure that the last part in a manufacturing production run is identical to the first part and that all pieces between meet customer spec. Potomac has developed an in-house automated inspection system that ensures time and again that each and every part coming off a production line in our factory meets customer requirements. This is especially critical for medical devices upon which lives are at stake.
In looking back at 2021, the innovations Potomac has developed are sure to propel the company to the next generation of advanced manufacturing possibilities for us and for our customers in 2022 and beyond.
