Two of Minnesota’s most respected medical technology firms, Intricon and Minnetronix Medical, have officially merged to form Forj Medical, a new contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) built to accelerate innovation in complex medical technologies.
Headquartered in Arden Hills, Minnesota, Forj Medical brings together decades of engineering expertise and a shared legacy of excellence in medical device design, microelectronics, precision molding, and advanced manufacturing. The newly formed company positions itself as a one-stop partner for medical device manufacturers — providing end-to-end capabilities that span from early-stage product concept and prototyping to commercial-scale manufacturing and global distribution.
“Forj Medical is uniquely equipped to meet the evolving needs of medical device OEMs,” said Jeremy Maniak, former CEO of Minnetronix and now CEO of Forj Medical. “By combining deep expertise in system and component design, microelectronics, precision molding, and automation, we’re enabling our customers to bring life-changing technologies to market faster and more efficiently.”
The merger reflects a growing trend in the medtech industry toward vertically integrated CDMOs, where specialized engineering and manufacturing competencies converge under one organization. Forj Medical’s combined resources and technical infrastructure are expected to significantly enhance its ability to support customers across a diverse range of therapeutic markets — including diabetes management, vascular interventions, surgical navigation, drug delivery systems, and surgical energy platforms.
With six facilities spanning the United States, Indonesia, Singapore, and Costa Rica, Forj Medical establishes a truly global footprint capable of supporting both large-scale production and regional supply chain agility. This global presence will allow the company to serve customers with localized manufacturing while maintaining unified standards for quality, compliance, and regulatory alignment.
According to Forj Medical’s leadership, the integration of Intricon’s precision microelectronic assembly expertise with Minnetronix’s system design and optical engineering strengths creates a uniquely comprehensive offering. The synergy will allow the company to deliver smaller, smarter, and more connected medical technologies — from implantable sensors and diagnostics to next-generation surgical systems.
Mauricio Arellano, an established leader with extensive experience in the medical device industry, has been appointed executive chair of Forj Medical. He described the merger as a strategic unification built on shared values of innovation, reliability, and collaboration. “Two leaders in medical device innovation have come together to create something extraordinary for customers,” Arellano said. “With a shared commitment to quality and innovation, Forj Medical is well-positioned to support our customers and accelerate breakthroughs in patient care.”
The company’s name — Forj — symbolizes both “forging ahead” in technological advancement and the unification of two strong organizations into one cohesive entity. It reflects a forward-looking philosophy that emphasizes collaboration, precision, and the creation of products that transform patient outcomes.
Minnesota’s Medical Alley, long regarded as one of the world’s most prominent medtech hubs, remains central to Forj Medical’s operations. The company’s expanded presence in the region reinforces its access to a highly skilled workforce, a robust supplier network, and a thriving ecosystem of medical technology innovators. The Minnesota headquarters will serve as the global innovation and operations center, complementing the company’s international facilities and ensuring cohesive oversight across continents.
The newly formed CDMO will provide OEMs with a fully integrated pathway from concept to commercialization, offering capabilities such as:
System and component design for complex medical and electromechanical devices
Microelectronics and sensor integration for miniaturized, connected products
Precision molding and high-tolerance assembly for medical-grade plastics and polymers
Automation and scalability solutions for efficient production transitions
Regulatory support and manufacturing validation across multiple geographies
By combining these capabilities under one organization, Forj Medical aims to reduce development cycles, simplify vendor management, and deliver faster time-to-market for emerging medical innovations. This integration also supports cost efficiency through shared infrastructure and cross-functional engineering expertise, ensuring that OEMs can develop complex technologies with fewer operational bottlenecks.
Industry analysts view the merger as a strategic alignment that strengthens both companies’ competitive positioning in the expanding medical outsourcing market, projected to grow rapidly as device manufacturers seek specialized partners to manage increasing complexity and regulatory demands. Forj Medical’s comprehensive service model places it among a select group of CDMOs capable of managing high-mix, low-volume specialty production as well as large-scale commercial manufacturing.
With a clear mission to “engineer what’s next in medtech,” Forj Medical is expected to focus on next-generation product platforms that integrate miniaturization, wireless connectivity, and intelligent control systems. These technologies are essential to advancing patient care in areas such as remote monitoring, robotic-assisted surgery, and precision drug delivery — sectors poised for significant global growth.
The merger also signals a strong commitment to sustainability and operational excellence, leveraging the companies’ combined experience in lean manufacturing, automation, and digital engineering. By harmonizing global operations across North America and Asia, Forj Medical aims to create a flexible and resilient supply chain, capable of meeting OEM requirements amid evolving market and regulatory landscapes.
As CEO Jeremy Maniak leads Forj Medical into its next chapter, the company’s vision is clear: to provide world-class design, engineering, and manufacturing solutions that empower medtech innovators to improve lives around the world.
The creation of Forj Medical — born from the merger of Intricon and Minnetronix Medical — represents more than a corporate consolidation. It marks the formation of a next-generation contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) built around integration, agility, and innovation. By combining two complementary industry leaders, Forj Medical is setting a new standard for how medtech companies design, scale, and deliver complex devices to the global market.
At its core, Forj Medical’s strength lies in seamless vertical integration. The company’s combined portfolio now covers the entire lifecycle of a medical device — from concept design and prototyping to system engineering, regulatory validation, and full-scale production. This unified structure eliminates many of the bottlenecks that traditionally slow down innovation in the medical device industry, particularly when multiple vendors and partners are involved.
CEO Jeremy Maniak said the company’s vision is to help OEMs “build the impossible” by merging advanced manufacturing capabilities with deep design expertise. “The future of medtech depends on how fast we can translate ideas into functional, manufacturable products,” Maniak noted. “Forj Medical was created to make that process as efficient and collaborative as possible — helping our customers bring transformative technologies to patients faster than ever before.”
This end-to-end capability reflects a broader evolution in the CDMO landscape. As devices become increasingly miniaturized, connected, and software-driven, medical OEMs are seeking partners who can not only fabricate components but also co-develop integrated systems that meet stringent performance and regulatory requirements. Forj Medical’s combined experience allows it to address this complexity with a cross-disciplinary approach — blending microelectronics, optics, molding, assembly, and automation under one roof.
The company’s global infrastructure spans six facilities across the United States, Indonesia, Singapore, and Costa Rica, each strategically positioned to support regional manufacturing, cost optimization, and rapid supply chain responsiveness. This footprint enables Forj Medical to provide OEMs with both localized production options and scalable international capacity, ensuring continuity and resilience in an increasingly globalized medtech market.
In Minnesota’s Medical Alley, Forj Medical’s expanded headquarters will serve as its central hub for engineering, R&D, and operational excellence. Here, the company will leverage the region’s deep talent pool and innovation ecosystem to collaborate with startups and established OEMs alike. This Minnesota base also strengthens Forj Medical’s proximity to some of the world’s largest medtech companies — positioning it at the center of a thriving network for clinical and manufacturing partnerships.
At the same time, Forj’s facilities in Southeast Asia and Central America extend its reach into fast-growing manufacturing and distribution corridors. The Costa Rica site reinforces the company’s nearshoring strategy for North American customers seeking efficiency and cost advantages without compromising quality or compliance. Meanwhile, Singapore and Indonesia provide key access points for Asia-Pacific markets, supporting high-tech assembly, testing, and logistics operations for global device launches.
This globally distributed model allows Forj Medical to balance cost competitiveness with regulatory alignment — a crucial advantage for OEMs that must navigate diverse standards such as FDA, ISO 13485, EU MDR, and MDSAPrequirements. The company’s harmonized quality systems ensure consistent performance and traceability across all sites, giving clients confidence that production quality is maintained worldwide.
Forj Medical’s integration strategy also extends to digital transformation. Both Intricon and Minnetronix had invested heavily in automation and digital engineering before the merger, and those capabilities now form a key part of Forj’s operational blueprint. By leveraging data-driven manufacturing systems, digital twins, and predictive process analytics, the company aims to deliver greater precision, shorter validation cycles, and faster scalability for complex medical systems.
In practice, this means Forj Medical can support next-generation medtech devices that demand tight tolerances, miniaturized electronics, and high-volume consistency — such as implantable sensors, diabetes management systems, and surgical navigation platforms. The company’s expertise in microelectronics and embedded systems enables it to produce smaller, more connected devices that align with the healthcare industry’s movement toward remote monitoring and personalized medicine.
Executive Chair Mauricio Arellano highlighted that the merger’s timing is strategic. “Healthcare technology is advancing at an incredible pace — and so are the expectations from regulators, providers, and patients,” he said. “Forj Medical was built to be the kind of partner medtech companies need today — agile, globally capable, and relentlessly focused on innovation and quality.”
By uniting Intricon’s precision micro-manufacturing capabilities with Minnetronix’s systems-level design and development expertise, Forj Medical is uniquely positioned to accelerate commercialization timelines for emerging technologies. OEMs often face significant delays when transitioning from design to production — a challenge Forj aims to eliminate through its integrated product realization model.
This model includes:
Early design collaboration to optimize for manufacturability and regulatory success.
Concurrent engineering to align mechanical, electrical, and software development.
Automated manufacturing systems that scale seamlessly from pilot to high-volume runs.
Comprehensive quality management that ensures global regulatory compliance.
Such cohesion helps reduce risk, streamline approvals, and shorten time-to-market — key differentiators in today’s competitive medtech environment.
Forj Medical is also committed to sustainability and responsible manufacturing, an area gaining attention among healthcare manufacturers. By implementing energy-efficient production systems, recyclable packaging practices, and localized supply chains, the company aligns itself with the ESG priorities of its global customer base.
In an era where medical device innovation is increasingly defined by speed, precision, and integration, Forj Medical emerges as a new archetype for the CDMO of the future — one that blends engineering intelligence with global execution. The company’s multidisciplinary teams, state-of-the-art facilities, and unified operational systems form a foundation for long-term strategic partnerships with OEMs that demand both agility and technical depth.
With its headquarters anchored in Minnesota’s Medical Alley and operations spanning three continents, Forj Medical is not only a merger of two respected medtech companies but also a forging of strengths — a symbol of how collaboration and technological convergence can redefine what’s possible in modern medical manufacturing.
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