Key members of Potomac’s team.
Perhaps no other sport exemplifies the importance of teamwork as well as football. The integration of each position into a concerted strategy is the key to winning games and going on to championships like the Super Bowl. One player alone cannot carry an entire team where there are holes in either offense or defense as proven by quarterback Tom Brady’s inability to take his team to victory on his talent alone. Both the 49ers and Chiefs put together cohesive teams that reached beyond one star player to play in the 2020 Super Bowl.
Many use sports analogies when talking about successful companies and it is more than a cliché at Potomac. Our wins are the direct result of teamwork, both within our staff and perhaps more importantly, externally with our customers and suppliers.
Customer Focus
It all starts with focus on our customers. For Potomac, listening to customer needs and working to uncover their unique challenges gives us insight into the innovations that are needed to solve problems quickly and affordably. Rather than just a one-size-fits-all answer, we start with our proven foundational core work utilizing laser micro-machining, micro-CNC machining, laser welding, bonding, 3D Printing, encapsulation, machine learning, and CAD design.
Scientists, engineers and designers can test our rapid prototype of their ideas and we then work collaboratively to modify or refine outcomes. The digital basis of advanced manufacturing tools means revisions are quick and easy in CAD software, opening up possibilities of a wide range of design options to test side by side.
Potomac’s customer interaction is then truly iterative, defining the optimal process that will get products to market more quickly with higher chances of success.
Feedback Loops
Engineers focused on meeting customer requirements.
No amount of iteration is possible without feedback loops. Today’s digital factory is a system where performance feedback runs up and down the supply chain. Communication between customer designers, Potomac’s engineers, machine operators, and quality control teams, our material and component suppliers, and final end-users generates important information that is continually used to improve products and processes, both for Potomac and our clients.
Many of Potomac’s staff have been working with us for years because they know that their individual role is integral to the success of us all and their work is valued by the entire team. People who feel they are contributing to a bigger picture usually derive more satisfaction on the job, and are more willing to participate in problem solving. From start to finish, each manufacturing process is carried out by a dedicated staff member who participates in continual improvement on a daily basis.
Production Success
Potomac’s view of product development with our customers, feedback throughout the supply chain and team values, ensures success when moving a product to short or long production runs. Our prototypes have been tested and optimized and so are ready for large-scale manufacturing. Whether fabricating a new microfluidic device for a leading healthcare provider or a microelectronics component for a high tech industry innovator, Potomac never loses sight of our goal: creating a team to ensure our customers win in their industry.
Microfluidic devices are a type of miniaturized lab-on-a-chip technology that have been gaining popularity in recent years. These tiny devices are used to manipulate and analyze very small quantities of fluids, and they have a wide range of applications in fields such as medicine, chemistry, and biology. One of the key components of microfluidic devices…
Potomac can fabricate fully functional microfluidic devices in many materials such as Cyclo-Olefin Copolymer (COC). Often our customers ask us to treat the material to make if more hydrophilic. COC is a relatively hydrophobic material that can be difficult to wet with water or aqueous solutions. However, there are several methods that can be used…
Even after decades of success helping innovators prototype and manufacture the next generation of products in a diverse range of industries, each year Potomac still evaluates how we can develop even more market specific products for the biotech, microfluidics, EV Battery, microelectronics, aerospace, and consumer markets. 2023 is no different. For the year ahead we…