In dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic many companies have volunteered or been requested to produce urgently needed medical products such as: Masks, gowns, and ventilators. "Tooling Up" quickly to produce medical grade products for some companies can bring challenges. In addition to needing FDA compliant materials that will be used in the actual masks, gowns, and ventilators, the tooling used to manufacture these products may also need to meet FDA compliance standards. Depending on the product being manufactured, the tooling may need to be: Washed down using caustic chemicals, cleaned with high pressure steam, or sterilized with high Intensity Ultra Violet light or radiation.
Ordering custom FDA compliant linear motion slides and XYZ stages can result in long delays. As an alternative, many companies have linear motion slides in stock for immediate delivery, however, they may not be FDA compliant. In many cases it is the bearings that are not in compliance.