Michael Barbella, Managing Editor12.14.21
The timing couldn’t have been better.
Three years ago, NuTec Tooling Systems Inc. began building a syringe coating machine for a large pharmaceutical firm. The client wanted to mass produce plastic syringes with a glass-like coating to provide an alternative to the more costly glass versions typically manufactured by its competitors.
The machine NuTec constructed included four Epson Cleanroom SCARA robots (developed by Epson Robots), each of which were strategically placed at various points in the apparatus to precisely and cost-effectively automate the syringe manufacturing process.
The automated process coats syringes at a rate of 38 parts per minute, passes the parts through various inspection stations, then siliconizes the hypodermics before changing temporary caps to final caps and subjecting them to a final X-ray inspection. The robots handle the syringes both before and after their glass-like coating is applied; in the final stages, the robots apply inner and outer covers to full containers of syringes and applies labels with a laser marker.
The machine was operational in November 2020, enabling NuTec’s pharmaceutical customer to work with the government and manufacture massive quantities of syringes for use in battling COVID-19.
“Epson’s high-speed G6-Series SCARA robots with Epson RC+ software enable precision processes with exceptional repeatability assembly pick and place capabilities,” Brent Martz, NuTec Tooling Systems sales and marketing director, said in an Epson news release. “The ease of use and application versatility within the Epson RC+ development environment plus an ISO-3 rating and compliance with cleanroom standards makes them ideal for this project and the medical sector in general, where speed and precision are vital to the manufacturing process.” Bürkert
Indeed, speed and precision are vital to medtech manufacturing, particularly as the types of medical devices that can be automatically assembled are constantly expanding. MPO’s feature “Complex Coupling” details the trends and market forces impacting the medtech assembly/automation sector. Julie Logothetis, president of Kahle Automation, was among the more than half-dozen experts interviewed for the feature; her full input is provided in the following Q&A:
Michael Barbella: What are the current trends in the medical device and automation sector?
Julie Logothetis: As a result of COVID-19, there has been an increase in demand for the basic items such as syringes, needles and PPE. We have seen a lot of companies looking to bring manufacturing back to the U.S. and not be as dependent on their offshore manufacturing partners for these products, who were not reliable suppliers and in many instances diverted their inventory to higher paying customers and internal country needs as the worldwide demand for these products increased.
Barbella: What new factors are driving the need for automation in medical devices?
Logothetis: In addition to the products that have been in demand due to COVID-19, the entire platform of drug delivery and diagnostics has been evolving over the past few years. As the wearable devices for drug delivery for at-home treatments and at-home testing become more mainstream, the need for the automation to manufacture these types of devices becomes a focus. Most of these devices consist of intricate multicomponent designs that may not require high-speed automation, but the critical character of the design and the intricate assembly process requires fully automated systems with a high level of automation expertise to achieve.
Barbella: What new innovations have been developed within the medical devices assembly and automation space? What specific market needs do these innovations address?
Logothetis: These newer devices in many instances consist of numerous micro-components; they require delicate assembly and can incorporate reagents and filters into the process. This is not traditionally a requirement in older-generation devices and the automation equipment to manufacture those devices.
Barbella: How is Industry 4.0 affecting medical device assembly and automation?
Logothetis: We have been integrating SCADA Systems into our equipment software to collect, monitor, and analyze data coming from our equipment and the plant that allows our customers to monitor their manufacturing in real time for many years.
Barbella: What new capabilities have been added to automated medical device assembly in the recent years?
Logothetis: As a provider of custom automation equipment for the medical and pharmaceutical device industries, it is our job to design automation to meet the needs of the product and the customer, so as products and the designs evolve, so do the capabilities for the equipment to manufacture these products.
Barbella: How is the design of assembly systems being impacted by the kinds of medical devices produced?
Logothetis: All Kahle systems are custom designed to meet the requirements of the product and its design. The product tells us how it wants to be put together and the format of the equipment that is best suited to that process. So, one device can tell us that a continuous motion machine is best suited for high-speed manufacturing of the product, while a different device might require a slower indexing process to achieve a higher output. We will design the dedicated machine tooling to assemble multiple devices at the same time and in other instances maybe a robot is best suited for the process. In all instances the equipment can be designed with the flexibility to manufacture multiple configurations and sizes of the device on the same machine.
Barbella: How might medical device assembly and automation evolve over the next half-decade?
Logothetis: Medical device assembly will evolve as the product designs evolve and as new device technology is introduced and needs to be manufactured. Medical technology does not change that rapidly, as every new technology requires years of design, testing, and FDA approvals before it is introduced.
Three years ago, NuTec Tooling Systems Inc. began building a syringe coating machine for a large pharmaceutical firm. The client wanted to mass produce plastic syringes with a glass-like coating to provide an alternative to the more costly glass versions typically manufactured by its competitors.
The machine NuTec constructed included four Epson Cleanroom SCARA robots (developed by Epson Robots), each of which were strategically placed at various points in the apparatus to precisely and cost-effectively automate the syringe manufacturing process.
The automated process coats syringes at a rate of 38 parts per minute, passes the parts through various inspection stations, then siliconizes the hypodermics before changing temporary caps to final caps and subjecting them to a final X-ray inspection. The robots handle the syringes both before and after their glass-like coating is applied; in the final stages, the robots apply inner and outer covers to full containers of syringes and applies labels with a laser marker.
The machine was operational in November 2020, enabling NuTec’s pharmaceutical customer to work with the government and manufacture massive quantities of syringes for use in battling COVID-19.
“Epson’s high-speed G6-Series SCARA robots with Epson RC+ software enable precision processes with exceptional repeatability assembly pick and place capabilities,” Brent Martz, NuTec Tooling Systems sales and marketing director, said in an Epson news release. “The ease of use and application versatility within the Epson RC+ development environment plus an ISO-3 rating and compliance with cleanroom standards makes them ideal for this project and the medical sector in general, where speed and precision are vital to the manufacturing process.” Bürkert
Indeed, speed and precision are vital to medtech manufacturing, particularly as the types of medical devices that can be automatically assembled are constantly expanding. MPO’s feature “Complex Coupling” details the trends and market forces impacting the medtech assembly/automation sector. Julie Logothetis, president of Kahle Automation, was among the more than half-dozen experts interviewed for the feature; her full input is provided in the following Q&A:
Michael Barbella: What are the current trends in the medical device and automation sector?
Julie Logothetis: As a result of COVID-19, there has been an increase in demand for the basic items such as syringes, needles and PPE. We have seen a lot of companies looking to bring manufacturing back to the U.S. and not be as dependent on their offshore manufacturing partners for these products, who were not reliable suppliers and in many instances diverted their inventory to higher paying customers and internal country needs as the worldwide demand for these products increased.
Barbella: What new factors are driving the need for automation in medical devices?
Logothetis: In addition to the products that have been in demand due to COVID-19, the entire platform of drug delivery and diagnostics has been evolving over the past few years. As the wearable devices for drug delivery for at-home treatments and at-home testing become more mainstream, the need for the automation to manufacture these types of devices becomes a focus. Most of these devices consist of intricate multicomponent designs that may not require high-speed automation, but the critical character of the design and the intricate assembly process requires fully automated systems with a high level of automation expertise to achieve.
Barbella: What new innovations have been developed within the medical devices assembly and automation space? What specific market needs do these innovations address?
Logothetis: These newer devices in many instances consist of numerous micro-components; they require delicate assembly and can incorporate reagents and filters into the process. This is not traditionally a requirement in older-generation devices and the automation equipment to manufacture those devices.
Barbella: How is Industry 4.0 affecting medical device assembly and automation?
Logothetis: We have been integrating SCADA Systems into our equipment software to collect, monitor, and analyze data coming from our equipment and the plant that allows our customers to monitor their manufacturing in real time for many years.
Barbella: What new capabilities have been added to automated medical device assembly in the recent years?
Logothetis: As a provider of custom automation equipment for the medical and pharmaceutical device industries, it is our job to design automation to meet the needs of the product and the customer, so as products and the designs evolve, so do the capabilities for the equipment to manufacture these products.
Barbella: How is the design of assembly systems being impacted by the kinds of medical devices produced?
Logothetis: All Kahle systems are custom designed to meet the requirements of the product and its design. The product tells us how it wants to be put together and the format of the equipment that is best suited to that process. So, one device can tell us that a continuous motion machine is best suited for high-speed manufacturing of the product, while a different device might require a slower indexing process to achieve a higher output. We will design the dedicated machine tooling to assemble multiple devices at the same time and in other instances maybe a robot is best suited for the process. In all instances the equipment can be designed with the flexibility to manufacture multiple configurations and sizes of the device on the same machine.
Barbella: How might medical device assembly and automation evolve over the next half-decade?
Logothetis: Medical device assembly will evolve as the product designs evolve and as new device technology is introduced and needs to be manufactured. Medical technology does not change that rapidly, as every new technology requires years of design, testing, and FDA approvals before it is introduced.