Clipper Information
We have had a number of enquires about where our products are sourced from and what materials are used.
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Our products are sourced from Sialkot in Pakistan, an area that has produced surgical equipment since WWI for the British.
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Sialkot is one of the leading manufactures of surgical equipment worldwide accounting for 20-25% of world manufacture.
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Sourcing direct from the manufacturer is a more economical way to supply medical instruments to you the consumer, by cutting out the 'middle man' in the supply chain - see the article below of how this is misled by European companies.
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The Search For The Perfect Clipper
Longevity of Product
The photo above shows another sample item we tested.
This item is stocked by other suppliers here in Australia, but we chose against it after our testing showed areas of concern. We do not want to stock items that you will not be happy with long term.
The other issue with this product is the shape of the head along with the size of the opening at the cutting edge.
Ergonomic Design
Using clippers multiple times daily makes the design of upmost importance.
A great design allows for less stress on the hand and wrist and far better control getting into to those tricky ingrown nails.
We chose to not proceed with the above clippers due to the design of the head, the narrow opening of the cutting edge and the small handle size.
Quality Feel
The above clippers look good, but we felt the hand pieces/ handles were not thick enough to give the clippers a quality feel and to ensure durability long term. These were also rejected by us.
Our Clippers
Design
What we love about our clippers!
Large opening of the cutting edge.
Easy to use cutting style of the head and cutting edge making it easy to get into those delicate spaces.
Strong thick hand pieces/ handles.
Large spring.
Flush and filed hinge joints.
No slip hand pieces/ handles.
Durability
The photo above shows the new product to the left, next to clippers from Sialkot purchased 10 years ago using the same grade stainless steel. These have been sterilised 2-3 x weekly for the last 10 years. They are still sharp (have not needed sharpening over those 9 years) and have not blunted or deformed on the tip and show little sign of wear.
Cost saving
We wanted to come to the podiatry instrument supply space, as a result of paying the extreme prices that are charged for items that podiatrist require in vast numbers.
Podiatrists require top quality products but don't require those products passing through the hands of many different businesses before they receive it. Each pair of hands they pass through increases the cost substantially. We are open and honest with where our instruments are made and don't try confuse customers by flying the flag of European countries in order to deceive. We do not use marketing tactics to get customers to believe they are paying a premium for a European made product when in fact all they are describing is the make up of the stainless steel.
Stainless Steel
Stainless steel is the term used to describe a group of specific steel products and the characteristics of the steel used - that being stainless.
The makeup of stainless steel is wide and varied, with it being selected based on the use of the product. Stainless steel is broken up into 5 classes- based on the molecular structure and elemental make up with a a great number of subclasses to each of these.
There is a large amount of confusion over the types and composition of stainless steel used for instruments. You would have heard terms of German Stainless Steel and Japanese Stainless Steel. These are terms used to describe the composition and variety of the stainless steel used.
German Stainless Steel, known as AISI 304, contains chromium and nickel as major alloying elements and it is non magnetic. German Stainless Steel is softer than other forms of stainless steel, but has low reactivity with other materials. Because of its non-magnetic nature and low reactivity, it is used widely in surgical tools such as clamps and hand pieces but due to it being softer it is not ideal in the use of a long service cutting implement. German Stainless Steel does not mean it is made in Germany, but it is just the common name of the make up of the stainless steel.
Japanese Stainless Steel, known as AISI 420, is a very hard stainless steel. It is magnetic in nature and contains higher amounts of carbon.
The higher carbon content in Japanese Stainless Steel make it ideal for use in blades with its hard nature. The issue with higher carbon content stainless steel makes it brittle in nature. This may allow the material to crack or break especially along a fine edge. Like German Stainless Steel, Japanese Stainless Steel is not necessarily made in Japan, but once again it is the common name for the make up of the stainless steel.
Stainless Steel AISI 410 - is a magnetic stainless steel that is very hard and durable in nature. It is harder and more durable than German Stainless Steel but less hard and brittle than Japanese Stainless Steel. It has low reactivity and low corrosion due to the 12% chromium in its make up. It is an ideal material used for cutting implements due to its high strength, making it less likely to become blunt and low risk of deformation. This lowers the need for sharpening and reduces the risk of damage to the tips of clippers compared to that of German Stainless Steel.
We currently are moving towards stockings more AISI 410 clippers based on the characteristics of the metals. We have tried German Stainless Steel due to its 'saleability' but have found issues with products getting damaged due to its softer nature - see below photo.
Damage to tips as a result of German Stainless Steel being softer in nature.
Below is an extract from and article in the British Medical Journal regarding manufacture of surgical instruments and how this is often misinformed by European companies.
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Bhutta MF. Fair trade for surgical instruments. BMJ. 2006 Aug 5;333(7562):297-9
'Manufacturers of surgical instruments in Sialkot need to minimise costs to remain competitive. To reduce overheads, most firms subcontract the initial production of instruments to workers employed in a small workshop or their own home, with finishing and quality checking of the product in house. Before export, quality is checked against European Union or US standards. Manufacturing firms in Pakistan, however, rarely have the infrastructure or marketing presence to allow direct trade with the end users in the destination countries. Most therefore sell to suppliers and retailers in the developed world with only a small profit margin. These “middle men” (mostly in Tuttlingen-Germany) then trade with end users, predominantly in the US or Western Europe, usually after a considerable mark up by local suppliers. For example, a pair of fine surgical scissors will cost $1.00 to produce, will be exported from Pakistan to Germany at a price of $1.25 (personal communication), and will probably be sold to a hospital for nearer $80.00 by local suppliers.
Instruments manufactured in Pakistan are regularly labelled “Made in Germany,” a practice that I have personally seen and that has been reported elsewhere.'
If your clinic would like to sample our clippers before you buy please email us: hello@podmedsupplies.com.au so we can arrange this to occur