Company insight
A leader in the assembly of on-body injectors
The Swiss designer and manufacturer of assembly machines provides its expertise in the implementation of assembly processes for on-body injectors, which are used in the treatment of diabetes and other chronic diseases. These small injection devices positioned directly on the skin require Mikron Automation to address several assembly challenges: the handling and manipulation of the highly miniaturised parts that make up the device and the ability to do simultaneous engineering with customers when the product is still undergoing design changes.
ikron Automation is well-versed in the diabetes market, having produced numerous assembly systems for market leaders of pen injectors and other connected devices. Like auto-injectors, which had undergone lengthy development periods before experiencing a boom in demand in recent years, on-body injectors are still an emerging technology today. “We began receiving the first customer requests for this type of device [around] 2013 and 2014,” recalls Flavio Pointet, key accounts manager at Mikron Corporation in Denver, Colorado. “Although Mikron’s expertise were already well established, embarking on the assembly of a new type of highly innovative device is always a challenge.”
M Micro-gears assembly performed without damaging teeth
Extreme miniaturisation Medical device manufacturers design on-body drug delivery devices to be as small as possible. This technology is pushing the boundaries of miniaturisation so the patient can benefit from the device without it obtrusively impacting their daily life.
Particularly innovative and the subject of numerous patents, this type of device is very complex in its assembly, requiring many parts, some of which are no larger than a few tenths of a millimeter. For example, some silicone seals have an external diameter of less than 1mm. In addition to their soft and sticky material, their small size makes all gripping, placement and control operations during the assembly process very challenging. The drug delivery needles used in the delivery devices are
also extremely thin with an external diameter of 0.3mm. The challenge for Mikron Automation was to develop a system that could assemble various miniature components that are not all visible to the naked eye.
Simultaneous engineering with the customer
Few products are currently on the market and many are still under development. “With this type of device, our support is provided at a very early stage of the project, with products whose development is not yet finalised and which do not yet work in practice,” notes Flavio Pointet. For this reason, Mikron has expanded its pre-production services to meet some of these specific needs. To demonstrate its ability to perform certain complex operations and assemblies, Mikron provides Proof of Principles (PoP) of certain assembly processes and key operations that can later be integrated
Medical Device Developments /
www.nsmedicaldevices.com
into the overall assembly system. Similarly, Mikron will engage in its partners during their product development phase to suggest design improvements.
A partnership built on trust For Mikron, being involved in a customer’s project at a very early stage means that a relationship based upon trust must be established between the two parties. “It is essential to establish a real partnership with the customer in regard to the technological challenges involved and the financial investments,” says Jean-François Bauer, head of marketing & business development at Mikron Automation. “Very often, clients are developing new products that have a lot of intellectual property. Confidentiality and trust are essential to the success of the programme.” ●
www.mikron.com/automation 61
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