Celebrating 80 Years of EngineeringCelebrating 80 Years of Engineering
MICRO, a contract medical device manufacturer with a long tradition of engineering, a focus on design for manufacturing, and ongoing investments in modern automation, is celebrating its 80th anniversary at MD&M West 2025.
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In the 1980s, MICRO, a family-run metal-stamping company, was contacted by a customer for help in transferring its in-house four-slide manufacturing of small metal components to another one of its facilities. MICRO, which was using multi-slide machines it had enhanced with functionality beyond basic metal forming, had another idea.
“We proposed an alternate solution: allowing us to make the parts for our customers in our New Jersey facility,” explains Brian Semcer, president of MICRO. “While they were initially hesitant, they invited us to collaborate with them to develop an improved component. Together, we successfully designed a toggle attachment to coin the features on a standard Nilsen four-slide at MICRO, and after months of joint development, the new and improved component was introduced.
“As a result of this success, our customer moved their component manufacturing, including heat treating, finishing, sorting, and packing, to MICRO where—after hundreds of millions of components have been produced—it remains today. That experience inspired us to establish a medical strategic plan in 1990 that laid out three key goals: component manufacturing, sub assembly, and eventually finished devices. All three goals have since been achieved.”
This week at MD&M West 2025, MICRO is celebrating its history of metal-forming innovations by marking its 80th anniversary as well as at other events throughout the year.
While the component manufacturing process described above began MICRO’s medical device manufacturing business, the company’s history of innovation can be traced back much further. Frank Semcer, Sr., one of the original founders of MICRO Stamping, pioneered a method of welding a gold contact point onto a component used by a large electronic company for telephone repeater connectors. “By integrating this basic machine with secondary capabilities, in line, and with his son Frank J. Semcer’s purchase of the company in 1976, MICRO fostered our culture of innovation and leadership," says Brian Semcer. "This mindset led to the creation of the three-piece welded discs used in the production of industrial diamonds, bandoliered pins for the connector industry, and ultimately, to high-speed, fully automated stamping for electronics, automotive, and medical customers.
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Frank Semcer, developing tooling. MICRO
"Over the past 80 years, MICRO has achieved many memorable milestones,” Brian Semcer continues. “Some of our transformative milestones in medical device innovations include rolling out our 1990 Medical Strategic Plan; establishing a dedicated prototype department; developing low-cost endoscopic scissors, dissectors, and graspers using our patented rolled tube stamping process; and the creation of our stamped self-biased scissor blade design.”
Engineering excellence is key to these accomplishments. “The more we advance our engineering talent and expertise, the more we can help our customers take their concepts from design to production,” says Semcer. “One of the ways we develop our engineering expertise at MICRO is through our Engineering Rotation Program, where they gain experience in quality, process, and R&D engineering, which fosters increased collaboration and teamwork.
“Our seamless involvement in products from conception to production is key to our success. Additionally, our prototype and engineering resources are seen by our customers as extensions of their companies,” he continues. “This is a result of how we collaborate with our partner customers to bring concepts and early R&D ideas to life. Relationships play a key role in developing that trust and everyone on MICRO’s team has a customer-first mindset.”
MICRO also emphasizes the importance of design for manufacturing. “To effectively design for manufacturing, understanding the customer’s ultimate objectives for the product is essential. MICRO’s ability to be ‘in the loop’ from conceptualization to commercialization ensures the design of products we supply can fit seamlessly into their application,” Semcer says.
Such technical expertise continues to benefit all customers. “With a goal set by our customer to reduce the cost of a disposable instrument from more than $20 to less than $6 each, these MICRO engineering advancements, plus installation of a Class 100 cleanroom assembly area and a strategic partnership with a MIM supplier, enabled us to successfully meet that goal,” says Semcer. “Other key achievements include advancements in tubing fabrication with enhanced robotics, creating our Costa Rica assembly facility, becoming a leader in robotic surgical components and subassemblies, the launch of our CNC department, and integration and development of PEM technology.”
MICRO continues to update its operations and tap into the latest advancements in automation. “As we look toward the future, we remain committed to developing, improving, and expanding on our core capabilities, such as tubing and contract manufacturing, as well as advancing our robotic-assisted surgery line of products and services. MICRO continues to leverage the most modern manufacturing techniques and innovative engineering solutions to deliver high quality products to our customers. To inspire and encourage future generations to enter manufacturing and product development, we plan to expand our extensive internship and mentor program and work with local colleges to provide students with information and opportunities for a career in the industry.”
This year’s MD&M West 2025 will be special for MICRO as its core executive team will be on-site to celebrate its 80th anniversary. The third and fourth generations of MICRO will be at the show, as the company showcases various surgical tools and instruments and highlights robotic capabilities developed for our OEMs including laser welding, CNC machining, and insert molding.
Visit MICRO at MD&M West Booth #1921 February 4-6 at the Anaheim Convention Center.
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