Fort Wayne Metals
9609 Ardmore Avenue, Fort Wayne, Indiana, United States

At Fort Wayne Metals, everything we do is driven by the fact that our materials end up in life-saving medical devices. Which is why quality is valued above everything else. We are constantly researching new materials, developing better products, and we keep looking for better ways to help you go about the business of helping your customers live longer, more fulfilling lives.

We’ve been focused on saving lives since our beginnings in 1970. And while we have changed in many ways over the years, this focus has remained unaltered.

History

“Complete integrity, not only with customers and employees, but with suppliers, is always one of the greatest essentials in the proper conduct of a business.”
-Ardelle Glaze, 1960

1946
It started with a single spark, an idea that formed in the mind of the late Ardelle Glaze who, at the time, was a former research scientist. The moment he established Fort Wayne Metals, Inc. a heavy emphasis was placed on research and innovation. He was a contributor within the wire industry from the start – one of his first ventures was improving a magnetic wire created for recording purposes. Although it was later replaced by the recording tape that we use today, that magnetic wire was just the beginning.

1960
Ardelle continued his innovative spirit into the ‘60’s, when he developed and later received his first patent for the drawn brazed strand (DBS®) that revolutionized leads.

1970
With only five wire drawing machines and one furnace, Fort Wayne Metals Research Products Corp began to create the mold for which we set our wire drawing standards to this day.

1980’s
In 1985, Ardelle’s son, Scott, was appointed CEO and has carried on his father's innovative mindset within the Fort Wayne Metals' family. Soon after, Fort Wayne Metals developed a metal-to-metal composite that has enabled the ability to match dissimilar materials in order to provide a variety of properties in a single wire system called DFT®.

2000’s
The new millennium has proved to be quite successful for Fort Wayne Metals. In 2002, we opened our first international facility in Castlebar, Ireland. After opening our Ireland location we shifted gears to focus on strengthening our international business relations. During this time, our innovative mindsets never faltered, we continued to develop new processes such as: 35N LT® (2003) and SLT® (2006).

2010’s
So far the turn of the century has taken us farther than we could’ve ever imagined. DPS™ was developed in 2011 for our customers who require a higher effective material stiffness in their Nitinol wire. And in 2013, new strides were taken and innovation hit new heights as we successfully performed our first Nitinol melt in our Columbia City facility. Although 2014 has brought us a surplus of new processes the most notable of them is 4TiTUDE™; this CP Gr 4 Titanium has brought new meaning to the term strength.

Our mission is to continually improve the quality of our products, the speed and efficiency with which we respond to customer requests and our level of understanding of the materials we work with and recommend.

Here at Fort Wayne Metals we are in the business of saving lives. Which is why we put a heavy emphasis on the quality of the wire we manufacture. Not only are we FDA registered and ISO 13485, ISO 9100 and AS 9100 certified, we also place strict standards on ourselves with our own quality management system (QMS). When you place an order with us, you can rest assured you receive the best quality wire possible.

Services

We’ll do most anything for our customers. Some things are no-brainers – or at least should be. Pulling in a due-date to avoid your line going down, for example. Finding ways to prioritize R&D orders because with today’s burn rates, we know that time is money. Or looking for ways to work more efficiently to lower your lead-times.

Over the years, we have also built a portfolio of more formal services. For example, we have an independent Materials Testing Laboratory that you can rely on for analysis of your materials. Our R&D Department will gladly assist with developing materials for your next-gen device. Our Mechanical Assembly department can turn our materials into components for your devices, allowing you to simplify your supply stream. And our Kanban program will help facilitate your requirements for just-in-time delivery.

But in the end, our desire to provide great service drives everything we do. So let us do the drawing, the straightening, the cabling and stranding, the coating, the laser ablating, the mechanical assembly, and more for you. We recognize how valuable your time is, so we have designed a portfolio of services to help you simplify your supply stream.