Biomet Shows 'How It's Made'

July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.


Biomet has been featured in news spots and stories, but it's never had a whole television show segment about it.

Until this year.

The Discovery Channel's "How It's Made" will feature the manufacturing process behind Biomet's artificial knees and hips, according to Jason Vida, of Boyden & Youngblutt, Fort Wayne, public relations for Biomet.[[In-content Ad]]MAJ Productions, the film crew for "How It's Made," was at the Warsaw company filming Friday. In the fall, they will film parts of the manufacturing process in New Jersey and Germany before the segment finally is aired tentatively late this fall.

The New Jersey plant does the casting of the Vanguard Complete Knee System, turning molten metal into the metal components. The Germany plant forges the stem of the hip, Vida said. Those plants then ship the parts to Warsaw, which takes care of the fine-tuning and polishing.

Vida said the segment will show each of the steps of the process in creating the knees and hips.

"They are going through the plant filming what would be the most impactful to the viewer," said Vida.

Both North American and European viewers will see the program.

Biomet Director of Marketing for the Extremities Group Bill Hartman said both the public and Biomet will benefit from the show segment.

"I think it's two-fold," he said. "It's very interesting for the public to see the technology that goes into these components," Hartman said. From the company's perspective, he said Biomet was very proud of having Discovery here to this scale.

"It's been fun to see the Biomet team members have an interactive role in the filming," he said. "They get out of their normal routine and get to be actors."

Hartman said most people probably think the Biomet process is something like a Ford car assembly line. Though Biomet does have some robotics, he said people will be impressed to see how many human hands are involved in the process.

"I think it's good for Biomet, I think it's good for the industry," said John McDaniel, vice president, marketing, of Discovery filming at Biomet. People will get an understanding of what goes into the manufacturing processes of hips and knees at Biomet.

Discovery approached Biomet about doing the segment, McDaniel said, about a month ago. Biomet immediately said yes. The show doesn't draw attention to a specific company, but to how a product is made.

When the company first started talking about the filming, McDaniel said employees were excited. With filming Friday, the excitement just grew, and likely will continue to grow as the show's air date approaches.

The film production team at Biomet Friday included Pierre Lambert on camera; Gabriel Hoss, producer; and production assistants Samuel Greffe and Richard Gravel. The crew currently is touring the Midwest, including Indiana, Illinois, Ohio and Michigan, Vida said.

Biomet has been featured in news spots and stories, but it's never had a whole television show segment about it.

Until this year.

The Discovery Channel's "How It's Made" will feature the manufacturing process behind Biomet's artificial knees and hips, according to Jason Vida, of Boyden & Youngblutt, Fort Wayne, public relations for Biomet.[[In-content Ad]]MAJ Productions, the film crew for "How It's Made," was at the Warsaw company filming Friday. In the fall, they will film parts of the manufacturing process in New Jersey and Germany before the segment finally is aired tentatively late this fall.

The New Jersey plant does the casting of the Vanguard Complete Knee System, turning molten metal into the metal components. The Germany plant forges the stem of the hip, Vida said. Those plants then ship the parts to Warsaw, which takes care of the fine-tuning and polishing.

Vida said the segment will show each of the steps of the process in creating the knees and hips.

"They are going through the plant filming what would be the most impactful to the viewer," said Vida.

Both North American and European viewers will see the program.

Biomet Director of Marketing for the Extremities Group Bill Hartman said both the public and Biomet will benefit from the show segment.

"I think it's two-fold," he said. "It's very interesting for the public to see the technology that goes into these components," Hartman said. From the company's perspective, he said Biomet was very proud of having Discovery here to this scale.

"It's been fun to see the Biomet team members have an interactive role in the filming," he said. "They get out of their normal routine and get to be actors."

Hartman said most people probably think the Biomet process is something like a Ford car assembly line. Though Biomet does have some robotics, he said people will be impressed to see how many human hands are involved in the process.

"I think it's good for Biomet, I think it's good for the industry," said John McDaniel, vice president, marketing, of Discovery filming at Biomet. People will get an understanding of what goes into the manufacturing processes of hips and knees at Biomet.

Discovery approached Biomet about doing the segment, McDaniel said, about a month ago. Biomet immediately said yes. The show doesn't draw attention to a specific company, but to how a product is made.

When the company first started talking about the filming, McDaniel said employees were excited. With filming Friday, the excitement just grew, and likely will continue to grow as the show's air date approaches.

The film production team at Biomet Friday included Pierre Lambert on camera; Gabriel Hoss, producer; and production assistants Samuel Greffe and Richard Gravel. The crew currently is touring the Midwest, including Indiana, Illinois, Ohio and Michigan, Vida said.
Have a news tip? Email [email protected] or Call/Text 360-922-3092

e-Edition


e-edition

Sign up


for our email newsletters

Weekly Top Stories

Sign up to get our top stories delivered to your inbox every Sunday

Daily Updates & Breaking News Alerts

Sign up to get our daily updates and breaking news alerts delivered to your inbox daily

Latest Stories


NAPPANEE BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS
Beer

Notice Of Administration
EU-000045 Naab

Public Occurrences 05.06.25
County Jail Bookings The following people were arrested and booked into the Kosciusko County Jail:

Brother, Sister And Family Take Over The Lake House On Shores Of Winona
WINONA LAKE — The Lake House, in the Village at Winona, has new ownership and is run by a family that grew up on the shores of Winona Lake. The business is run by siblings Jack and Caroline Mayer, but also have a lot of support from their family.

Victor Santos Sentenced To 20 Years In 2022 Semi/Bus Crash
"I thought some of the boys were dead," said Michael Rigitano, coach to the St. Ignatius College Prep hockey team. "I didn't know how I would tell their parents.”