A local manufacturer of highly specialized tungsten wire needles is growing with plans to build a new facility in Dutch Square.
 
Selbach Machinery LLC is waiting for approvals to build a 5,000-squarefoot facility to support its growing needs, said Herbert Selbach, owner and CEO of Selbach Machinery.
 
“Five thousand square feet: It doesn’t sound like much, but because we make very small needles it’s a lot of space for us,” Selbach said.
 
Selbach Machinery isn’t moving far from its current location in Dutch Square at 6726 Netherland Drive. The company’s headquarters in Wilmington focuses on new product development, research and development and sales.
 
The new facility, set to be built at 6710 Netherland Drive, will have larger, more modern manufacturing space. The company expects to move into the new space in the second quarter of 2022.
 
Selbach Machinery makes tungsten electrodes and needles for surgical instruments, Selbach said.
 
The tungsten needles the company makes require a highly controlled manufacturing process and a strict quality control system, he said. And as a supplier in the medical field, the company also has to meet an ISO (industrial standard organization) certification for its needles.
 
The company not only researches and develops its products, but also develops and designs its own machinery to make its needles.
 
“The process is starting with wire material and cutting it to the final length of the needle. And the next step would be to generate the point on the needle. And that’s an electrochemical process that we developed, and also machines to do this. And then inspection, which is an important part of making the product to make sure that the products are 100% to customers’ specifications,” Selbach said.
 
Selbach, a native of Germany and an engineer, visited the United States in 1980 to negotiate a multi-million- dollar contract with GM. Five years later, he settled in New Jersey and managed several machinery companies for about 10 years before starting Selbach Machinery.
 
Starting out as a machine builder, Selbach later began designing and building needle machines for several different markets. He later moved his business from New Jersey to Wilmington in 2005 to set up his own needle production facility, which is now specializing in several market applications, including surgical instruments, aerospace and testing equipment.
 
To make its products, Selbach Machinery uses high-precision manufacturing equipment, which has made a name for the company as a supplier of tungsten electrodes for microdissection needles, he said.
 
“By using electric current, these instruments cut tissue and at the same time cauterize the blood vessels,” Selbach said.
 
Microdissection needles require an ultra-sharp tip, he said. Conventional needles are made from stainless steel, and the tips are ground.
 
“Grinding the tip cannot achieve the same sharpness and consistency as tungsten needles. In addition, tungsten has special properties, making it extremely durable. However, machining it is exceedingly difficult, compared to stainless steel,” Selbach said. “We have developed a proprietary electrochemical process that produces a tip radius as sharp as 2 microns. For comparison, a human hair is 70 microns thick.”
 
The business has evolved in Wilmington since 2005, Selbach said.
 
“The past 16 years in Wilmington have generated steady growth, allowing the company to invest in new machinery and be well prepared for the future,” he said.
 
The company is expected to start manufacturing a new product at the end of the year.
 
“It is for very small tungsten wire hooks that go into a surgical instrument,” Selbach said, adding that the new facility will be able to help grow production of the new line.
 
Just before the COVID pandemic, the company made headway on starting its new manufacturing operation in Berlin. Production started in February; however, Selbach was forced to stay in Germany for seven months before he could come back to the United States.
 
“The facility in Berlin manufactures the same products, the microdissection needles, and it has new equipment. It’s all robotic equipment, fully automated, and those are machines that we design and build here in Wilmington,” Selbach said.

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Selbach Machinery LLC

6726 Netherlands Drive, Ste. 700, Wilmington

No. of employees: 6

Year founded: 1996
 
Top local official: Herbert Selbach, owner and CEO
 
Company description: Selbach Machinery manufactures surgical needles for a variety of markets.
 
Products made locally: The company makes surgical needles and electrodes at the Wilmington-based facility. The company also has a manufacturing operation in Berlin.
 
Product distribution: Products are distributed across America, Asia and Europe.
 
What made the company decide to make its goods locally? Herbert Selbach: “The availability of industrial space, climate and the beach. Before I moved to Wilmington, I had my company in New Jersey, where I lived for 20 years. So when I moved to Wilmington, I moved my entire operation to Wilmington.”
 
What’s your target market? Selbach: “Our company targets medical equipment manufacturers for surgical instruments. In aerospace, we have a customer who uses our tungsten pins on airplanes. And also electronic testing equipment. We have a customer using our tungsten pins for drug and explosive testing devices.”
 
What’s planned next? Selbach: “We are outgrowing our current facility, and we need more manufacturing space and office space. The company will be moving into a new facility in 2022.”
 
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