Custom Wire Technologies Inc.

There are several well-known wire winding and distributing companies in the metro Milwaukee area. However, only one of them makes components using wire that is less than one-fourth the diameter of a human hair.

Custom Wire Technologies Inc., a Port Washington-based manufacturer of coiled wire products, makes components that are used in medical devices and other medical-related activities.

“These are things that are being put into and taken out of the body during a patient’s stay in a hospital,” said Bob Boldig, owner and president of the company. “A lot of them are some form or reinforced tube set used surgically to feed people or some form of catheterization.”

The assemblies made by Custom Wire Technologies are small. Workers routinely use magnification equipment during assembly in the company’s clean room area. The company’s coiled assemblies range in diameter from 5/8 of an inch to .009 of an inch.

“Everything is being pushed smaller and smaller today,” Boldig said. “We work with some stuff that is less than .003 of an inch in diameter. (Wire) that is four times the diameter of a human hair is the biggest stuff that we’re working with.”

In addition to coiling, Custom Wire Technologies is able to perform secondary operations like laser welding and crimping using specialized machinery.

“We can spot weld something that is .004 of an inch in diameter up to .01 of an inch in diameter,” Boldig said.

Not all of the machinery needed to build the assemblies made by Custom Wire Technologies is available on the open market. Because the company is making products that are so small, it has made about half of the tooling and machinery it uses, Boldig said.

“As we get into (the design process of the systems), it’s usually quicker for us to do it,” he said. “We don’t make a profit by us building a machine, but it does everything we want it to do at that point. And sometimes speed is the important factor.”

Custom Wire Technologies has about 20 employees now and runs two shifts. The company is based in a 5,000-square-foot facility, which includes its offices, manufacturing area and medical-grade clean room.

Despite the sluggish economy, Custom Wire Technologies has seen orders increase 40 to 50 percent through 2009, Boldig said. The company has averaged about 15 percent growth through most of its life, and believes its 2010 growth will be 15 to 20 percent.

The company will likely need to expand at some time in 2010, Boldig said, because it is out of room.

“That’s going to be another challenge for 2010,” he said. “If we do it, it will at least double or triple the size of the facility.”

Custom Wire Technologies was formed in 2002. Boldig worked formerly in mechanical engineering and served the medical industry, and could see the need for miniaturized wire assemblies that could be used in medical devices.

The company was formed in Milwaukee and moved to Port Washington in 2004. However, its products are sold to customers all over the country.

“We don’t sell anything in Wisconsin,” Boldig said. “Most of our sales are in the Midwest, but some are on the east and west coasts and we sell some stuff overseas. A lot of our customers are big medical OEMs, but sometimes we will deal with their suppliers, depending on where the work is coming from.”

Because its components are so small and shipping costs are so low, Custom Wire Technologies’ location is immaterial to its customers.

“You could build these products anywhere – they are so small and light that we can ship thousands of them at a time,” Boldig said.