A LIFE SCIENCES WEBINAR FROM GREAT LAKES INDUSTRIAL & PARKER PARFLEX
Heat Shrink & Catheter Liners: What Medical Device Engineers Need to Know
Join Parker Parflex and Great Lakes Industrial (GLI) for a technical session on two materials behind nearly every catheter build: heat shrink and PTFE liners. Learn how material choice, construction, and sizing affect performance, and get a direct line to the engineering and supply chain support that turns a spec into a finished product.
September 30, 2026
11:00 AM ET / 10:00 AM CT
45-Minute Live Virtual Webinar
Live virtual session. Register once to save your seat.
Register for the Webinar
September 30, 2026 · 45 minutes · No cost to attend
SESSION OVERVIEW
About This Session
A catheter shaft comes together in sequence: a PTFE liner sets the inner diameter, a braid reinforces it, an outer jacket goes on, and heat shrink bonds the whole stack during reflow. Get any one of those steps wrong, and the finished device shows it.
In this 45-minute session, Parker Parflex's material science experts join Great Lakes Industrial for a technical look at two materials at the center of that build: catheter liners and heat shrink. We'll cover how liner construction and etching affect bonding and performance, and where PTFE, FEP, and PFA genuinely differ beyond the datasheet. We'll also cover what to weigh when sizing heat shrink so the reflow bonds cleanly, without voids or an uneven wall.
Time permitting, we'll also touch on broader fluoropolymer applications.
AUDIENCE
Who Should Attend
This session is built for medical device engineers, R&D and product development leads, and sourcing or procurement managers working on catheter-based devices, whether you're at an OEM or a contract manufacturer. If your work touches guide catheters, diagnostic or interventional catheters, introducer sheaths, microcatheters, or drug-delivery catheters, this session speaks directly to what you're building.
WHAT YOU'LL LEARN
Catheter liner construction
How liners are built and etched, and what that means for fit, bonding, and performance in a finished catheter shaft.
Fluoropolymer application differences
The practical tradeoffs between PTFE, FEP, and PFA, and how to choose the right material for your application, rather than guessing from a datasheet.
Key considerations for sizing heat shrink
How wall thickness, shrink ratio, and recovery temperature interact, and what to watch for to avoid voids or an uneven wall during reflow.
FEATURED WEBINAR SPEAKERS
Meet Your Speakers
Grant Youngberg
Grant Youngberg serves as the lead partner to Life Sciences manufacturing customers at Great Lakes Industrial, where he brings expertise across a broad portfolio of sealing, hose, and fluid-handling solutions. He works closely with customers and internal engineering and procurement teams to deliver optimized, application-specific solutions that align with clients' sourcing and operational goals. Prior to GLI, Grant spent eight years at Grainger optimizing national accounts purchasing and sourcing strategies. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Marketing from Miami University.
Sales Engineer, Great Lakes Industrial
Lew Weich
Lew Weich is a Sales Manager at Great Lakes Industrial with over eight years of experience across the organization, spanning roles in account relationship management, strategic account management, and inside sales leadership. He currently directs GLI's sales team, developing strategic sales plans, sales forecasts, and training programs while partnering closely with engineering and operations to ensure customers get the right sealing and fluid-handling solutions for their applications. Earlier in his career at GLI (formerly Great Lakes Rubber & Supply), Lew worked directly with engineering teams as an Inside Sales Account Manager and Buyer, giving him deep, ground-level knowledge of the products and sourcing decisions his team supports today.
Sales Manager, Great Lakes Industrial
Josh Coe
Josh Coe is a Market Manager at Parker Hannifin, where he has spent over 13 years advancing the company's fluid handling and sealing solutions. Since joining Parker in 2013, he has progressed through roles in sales, business intelligence, business development, and product management, most recently leading market strategy from Parker's Ravenna, Ohio operations. Josh holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in Management and Operations from Ohio State University.
Market Manager, Parker Hannifin
Michael Allen
Project Manager, Parker Hannifin. 10 years across plant ops, value stream mgmt, product sales at Fort Worth, TX; former Plant Manager. MBA Kent State, bachelor's Ohio State.
Project Manager, Parker Hannifin
REGISTER FOR THE WEBINAR
Registration
Registration takes less than a minute. Tell us what you're hoping to get out of the session, and Josh and Michael will use that to shape the technical walkthrough.
Save your seat
WHY GLI
The Partner Behind the Material
Parker manufactures a deep line of PTFE, FEP, and PFA materials engineered for demanding fluid-handling and sealing applications. But knowing which material is technically correct is only the first step. Getting that material onto a validated, compliant, reliably supplied production line is the bigger challenge, especially for the many mid-size OEMs in this space that don't have a dedicated materials engineer, a large supply chain team, or a deep regulatory affairs department on staff.
That's where GLI comes in. GLI sits between a manufacturer like Parker and your application, helping you select the right Parker solution and acting as a stocking distributor to keep inventory on hand and meet your demand. We close three gaps on every build:
01
Engineering gap
We bridge the gap between the materials and components Parker manufactures and the applications that require them.
02
Supply chain gap
We stock parts so you aren't beholden to a manufacturer's minimum order quantities and lead times, and we reduce part numbers and labor with kitting across multiple product groups.
03
Documentation and traceability gap
Our quality systems, ISO 9001:2015 certified and PPAP-capable, keep lot traceability and process documentation organized alongside materials that meet Parker's FDA and USP Class VI compliance standards, so the paperwork trail is already in shape when your quality team asks for it.
BEHIND THE DISTRIBUTION
Engineering support, quality systems, and 70 years of relationships
Backing all of it is an in-house engineering lab supporting product inspection, leak testing, failure analysis, and rapid prototyping, plus a team that works proactively, through risk audits, discovery workshops, and application guides, to flag risks and improvements before you have to ask.
Founded in 1954, GLI has spent more than 70 years building the kind of distributor relationships that turn a spec into a finished product, including a supplier partnership with Parker Hannifin spanning more than 65 years. Life Sciences is a core part of that business today, backed by more than 50 years of hands-on experience supporting medical device OEMs and contract manufacturers.
70+
Years in business, founded 1954
65+
Years partnered with Parker Hannifin
50+
Years supporting Life Sciences OEMs and CMs
ONE-ON-ONE SUPPORT
Have a project you'd like to talk
through before the webinar?
Reach out to our Life Sciences team. No pressure, just a
conversation about your application.
A single-source industrial supplier of sealing, hose, and fluid-handling components, and an authorized Parker Hannifin distributor supporting Life Sciences OEMs and contract manufacturers.
© 2026 Great Lakes Industrial. All rights reserved.
Presented with Parker Parflex.