Vantage builds mobile carts that carry computers and medical electronics through hospitals. The electronics drawer on their carts was taking a beating from infection-control protocols — wiped down with harsh disinfectants many times a day — and the finish was chalking and the edges corroding, leaving surfaces that were harder to clean and quicker to look worn.
Cleanability is a clinical requirement
In a hospital, every surface a cart touches is disinfected constantly with aggressive wipes. A drawer that's going to live in that environment has to have smooth, sealed surfaces with no crevices to trap contaminants, edges that resist corrosion, and a finish that survives the chemicals rather than chalking and cracking — because a degraded surface is a surface that's harder to keep clean.
Vantage's drawer was failing the finish test, and in clinical equipment that's not cosmetic — it's an infection-control concern.
Smooth surfaces and the right finish
The build had to do two things: form the drawer so it's smooth and free of dirt-trapping crevices, with radiused, deburred edges; and finish it in a coating made for this environment. An antimicrobial powder coat resists microbial growth on the surface and stands up to repeated disinfection without breaking down.
Aluminum keeps the drawer light — carts are pushed and lifted all shift — while the finish carries the clinical-durability load.
The part we built
We formed the drawer from 1.2mm 5052-H32 aluminum, held features to ±0.35mm for smooth slide action, and deburred and radiused the edges so there are no sharp or crevice-prone surfaces. We finished it in an antimicrobial white powder coat rated for repeated hospital disinfection. We build it turnkey with slides and hardware to Vantage's BOM.
The result is a light, smooth, wipe-clean drawer whose finish holds up to the disinfectants that had been wearing out the old one.
Clean, shift after shift
Under the same constant disinfection that had chalked and corroded the previous drawer, the antimicrobial-coated aluminum stays smooth and intact, so it keeps cleaning up easily and looking clinical rather than worn. Vantage could stand behind the drawer's durability in an environment defined by how hard it is on surfaces.
Clinical equipment is judged by whether it can be kept clean for years. The right forming and finish is what makes that possible.
“Our drawer gets disinfected dozens of times a day. The antimicrobial-coated aluminum stays smooth and cleanable — it holds up where the old one wore out.”
Rachel Pham, Product Manager, Vantage Medical Carts