Alloys Bridging Markets in the Fight Against COVID-19

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has created unanticipated challenges throughout the year, including throughout the industrial supply chain. However, through this crisis, the manufacturing community's strength has been on full display as a wide range of companies pool their innovative talents and production resources to help meet the medical community's needs.

As hospitalizations soared during the first wave of the virus, so too did the need for ventilators. The sense of urgency stemming from the stress on the supply chain led ventilator producers to publicly share design files to accelerate production through the open-source community. Carpenter Technology fielded calls to provide a medical alloy to manufacturing companies answering the call to support the medical community.

Up for the challenge, we showcased our core strength of being the most nimble high-performance material company to support the spike in demand for the critical ventilator alloy. An economical core iron with high magnetic induction available in complex shapes, Silicon Core Iron B-FM is a proprietary soft magnetic material used in the production of ventilators that demand consistent, repeatable performance to readily synchronize with a patient's breathing effort. "Working with our strategic customers to understand the spike in demand, we learned how to best support the materials needs challenges faced by our partners," Brent Marini,  Strategic Business Developer - Medical, explained. "Our nimble approach toward planning, manufacturing, and our complete integration into one location in the United States positioned us to reduce the lead time by 40% to meet the critical timelines."

"It's been a difficult year around the world, but the partnerships and innovations emerging from this crisis have overcome some unique challenges. Here at Carpenter Technology, we're proud to continue supplying our part to these mission-critical applications improving patients' lives," Marini concluded.