About the OEM Division
Our breadth of products and customization capabilities has made Merit Medical OEM a preferred supplier for many of the largest, well-respected medical device manufacturers around the world. Merit Medical OEM offers our partners the unique opportunity to more efficiently design a device or component for your new or existing project. Customers begin with the Merit Medical OEM catalog containing thousands of field-proven medical devices and components, and work with our dedicated OEM engineering team to customize these devices and components to your specific project needs.
Download the Merit Medical OEM Capabilities Brochure (PDF)
FACILITIES
Global Support System
Merit Medical Systems operates world-class manufacturing and distribution facilities around the globe to ensure your products are delivered as efficiently as possible. To provide the highest level of customer service, the OEM division offers on-the-ground sales and customer service support throughout the United States, Europe and China, and we are ready to travel to meet with our customers anywhere else in the world, at any time.
Salt Lake City, Utah, US
Global Headquarters – Manufacturing and Distribution
- Clean room assembly and production
- R&D and pilot production clean rooms
- Pressure Sensor production, including wafer fabrication
- Injection and insert molding
- Automated finished goods warehouse
Galway, Ireland
Manufacturing
Merit’s principal office and manufacturing facility for European operations, employing more than 500 people. Home to the HypotubeCenter of Excellence.
Maastricht, The Netherlands
European Headquarters and Distribution
- Distribution for Europe, Middle East and Africa
- International Customer Service for OEM
Pearland (Houston) Texas, US
Manufacturing and Distribution
Specializing in catheter manufacturing, including custom extrusions
Richmond, Virginia, US
Specializing in catheter manufacturing, including custom extrusions
Venlo, The Netherlands
Coating
Facility for PTFE and Hydrophilic coating of medical tubes and wires.
Tijuana, Mexico
Manufacturing
Facility that manufactures product lines that were made at Integra Medical, a former contract manufacturer for Merit.
Executive Bios
Michael Blackham
Executive VP Global OEM & Coatings
Michael Blackham joined Merit Medical in 2010 as the Vice President of Global Trade, tasked with creating an infrastructure aimed at corporate cost savings by negotiating long-term agreements with suppliers and vendors. As VP of Global trade, Blackham helped Merit realize a savings of more than $5 million in just two years. In 2013, Blackham was asked to head Merit Medical’s OEM business, a quickly growing and important division of Merit Medical that sells Merit components and devices to other medical manufacturers. One of his first initiatives as VP of Global OEM was to combine the OEM business with one of Merit’s smaller component businesses, Merit Coatings – a manufacturer and supplier of coated wires and tubes based in the Netherlands. From the time Blackham assumed responsibilities for the OEM and Coatings divisions, the combined business has grown 28% and accounts for 15% of Merit’s overall business. Prior to joining Merit, Blackham ran his own financial firm for over 15 years. Blackham speaks French and graduated from the University of Utah.
Ben Skousen
Director, OEM engineering
Ben joined Merit Medical in 2011 as the head manufacturing engineer over the Medallion syringe line in South Jordan, Utah. His years of experience working with Merit’s manufacturing group provided him with a great background for his move to OEM’s project engineering group in 2015. During his time in the OEM division, Ben has shown a strong work ethic to meet the needs of our OEM partners. After showing great leadership in his role as manager of OEM’s Global Project team, Ben was promoted to Director of OEM Engineering and currently oversees OEM’s Global Project team and OEM’s Global Operations team. Ben graduated Magna Cum Laude from Arizona State University in Industrial Design with a focus on medical device design.
Richard Best
Director, Customer Service
Richard Best has been in the Customer Service department of Merit for nearly 15 years. He joined Merit in 2001 as a Customer Service Representative for Hospital Sales. After 7 years of working for Hospital Sales, Richard was asked to work on projects for the OEM division of Merit. He has worked in several capacities for the OEM department and is currently the Director of the Customer Service Group for the OEM division within Merit Medical. Richard Best enjoys assisting customers and is proud of the way the Customer Service team manages to deliver the right service to the customers of Merit in the right way.
Christian Frioux
Senior Marketing Communications Manager
Christian Frioux joined Merit Medical in 2015 and worked with Merit’s CI division to development new marketing and education materials. He joined the Merit OEM management in September of 2016. Christian brings marketing and communications experience from the tech industry, growing sales and building brands for both large and small companies.
Christian started his college education at the University of Utah were he also played Lacrosse for 2 years. He studied German Lit. and Art History in Vienna, Austria followed by his graduation from Brigham Young University with Bachelor’s degree in Communications as well as German Literature.
CAPABILITIES
Proven Products
Every Merit Medical OEM solution leverages thousands of innovative, proven, and industry-leading products that we’ve been perfecting and enhancing for more than 25 years—from our gold standard Medallion syringes and top-quality valves to innovative vascular access components. Together, these products and components form the foundation for world-class medical solutions used by thousands of physicians around the world.
Specialized Modifications
Unlike many large medical device manufacturers, Merit Medical is ready to work with you to adapt our products and components to meet your specific requirements—whether that means combining stock components or applying specialized needle coatings or other custom elements or enhancements to your solution. The bottom line is that we can be as flexible as you need us to be to meet your most demanding project needs.
Custom Labeling and Packaging
At Merit Medical, our commitment to flexibility includes adding your company’s brand or special markings to specific components or packaging elements, providing a complete range of sterile and non-sterile options, and bringing everything together with complete packaging options.
Deep Expertise and Total Commitment
Finally, every time you work with Merit Medical, you gain instant access to our rich engineering heritage and expertise, state-of-the-art manufacturing and packaging facilities, and all the other tools and resources Merit Medical is known for. And that translates directly into new possibilities every time we work together.
Continuous Precoating Capabilities
At our coating headquarters in the Netherlands, Merit Medical applies PTFE and hydrophilic coatings to medical device tubes and wires in thin layers to meet customers’ outer diameter requirements. Our world-renowned spool-to-spool precoating process ensures that tubes and wires are consistently smooth throughout their length.Merit Medical OEM can supplycoated wires and tubes on spools or provide further processing for your medical wires and tubes.
Advanced Tube and Wire Processing Services
Using the latest technologies and processes in our recently upgraded state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities, we can laser-cut, clean, straighten, weld, flatten, roughen, grind and coil, among many other customized services. We will work to meet your unique performance needs with customized manufacturing of hypotubes, guide wire components, mandrels/stylets and coated needles. Learn more about ourwire and tube components and processing services.