Company insight
Automating to facilitate for any circumstance
There was already a growing trend towards greater automation in medical device production lines, but increased demand for certain equipment in combination with disrupted supply chains – both caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and corollary issues – provided another impetus for innovation. Prakash Mahesh, group executive of life sciences at ATS Automation, explains why he chose to become part of the company and the opportunity in front of it to transform medical device manufacturing.
Has the pandemic already led to greater automation in the medical device industry? Prakash Mahesh: The pandemic caused several significant shifts in the life sciences and medical world. Firstly, all elective procedures were stopped across the globe and priority was given to Covid- 19 testing and vaccination. This led to a huge spike in the manufacturing and distribution of Covid-19 diagnostic kits and vaccines, which meant the companies manufacturing them had to ramp up their capacity fast.
Automation has played a significant role in being able meet those demands. I recently visited a very large supplier of Covid-19 kits that resides on the US west coast and uses our automation systems. They supplied over 200 million diagnostic kits during the peak of the pandemic. They went 100% into automation to ramp up to these levels and are very thankful for our prompt delivery of equipment to be able to support such a spike. Now that the pandemic has gone to a different level and phase, these companies are able to use the technologies to drive volume and throughput with other diagnostic and treatment solutions.
Do you think the need to adapt to fulfil greater demand has resulted in more enthusiasm to increase levels of automation outside of pandemic requirements? For some, the pandemic has forced their hand. As we transition into a post- pandemic reality and look at supply chain and labour challenges, among others, embracing automation gives our customers the ability to better manage these issues without having to compromise on quality.
Using our diagnostic kit customer example, their enthusiasm with the success of the pandemic response is driving them to automate across many of their products. With an increased focus on wellness driven by the pandemic, there’s also been specific growth in various technologies, research and medications related to cancer diagnosis and treatment. Related products could follow the established manufacturing and distribution paradigms driven by the pandemic, of which automation has been key.
Is it this opportunity for growth in automation within the medical device sector that led you to accept the role at ATS Automation? My passion has always been life sciences. I have spent more than half my career in various aspects of medical and life sciences markets, including medical devices. I get personal satisfaction from work that touches and improves people’s lives, and that is the purpose statement of ATS: “Creating solutions that positively impact lives around the world.”
It was this, as well as the opportunity to be able to grow our business and the increase in market needs for automation, that brought me to ATS.
Could you tell us a bit about ATS’s acquisitions and how bringing different competencies to clients through them is an overall customer benefit? ATS Life Sciences is currently comprised of LS Systems, which offers high-value automated solutions for medical devices, diagnostics and pharmaceutical manufacturers. The following three segments are integrated through
Medical Device Developments /
www.nsmedicaldevices.com
acquisition: BioDot specialises in the development, manufacturing and customisation of precision, high- throughput, low-volume, fluid-dispensing systems across point-of-care diagnostics, clinical diagnostics and the life sciences; Comecer develops and manufactures high-tech systems in the field of aseptic processing and containment for the pharmaceutical and nuclear medicine industries, specialising in isolation technology solutions for regenerative medicine and tissue engineering; SP specialises in biopharma processing equipment, life sciences benchtop equipment, labware and glassware and aseptic filling solutions.
Individually these are very powerful for customers, but when you integrate them into a total offering, we can provide unique solutions that will exceed customer expectations. We will be looking for additional opportunities to expand our presence across life sciences markets.
Is there anything we’ve missed that you’d like our readers to know? ATS is known for large, highly customised automation systems, but we have been focusing on developing our contract manufacturing, what we call Repetitive Equipment Manufacturing (REM). We’re taking best practices from our larger projects and scaling them for customers who produce hundreds or thousands of parts rather than millions. In addition, we have added specialised solutions with the addition of Comecer, SP Industries and BioDot. If you didn’t think ATS was a fit for your business, we’d like you to give us another look. ●
www.atsautomation.com 59
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