Manufacturing technology
Real-time data from high-speed, high- precision assembly machines is key to enabling automation.
in-between steps. On the contrary, new 5-axis CNC machining and additive manufacturing methods eliminate the need to reorient the product. Vaughan says, “This enables creating the part as it’s intended, whereas historically, for fine geometries, that might require post-processing and polishing.” Capturing detailed inspection data for each product enhances traceability in the manufacturing facility and across the supply chain. “High-speed, high-precision automation bundles three functions into one,” says Lee. “It’s high-speed, intelligent and traceable.” This allows manufacturers to quickly locate defective products or batches and identify root causes for recurring defects. It also improves regulatory compliance by generating auditable digital records. “Automated prediction and traceability with a root cause analysis can support continuous certification,” says Lee. With highly precise assembly machines, any instances of poor product quality are typically due to their suboptimal operation. This underlies the challenge in balancing high speed with high precision, particularly for fast-moving medical products. Even a small scrap rate could amount to millions in lost materials annually. Manufacturers need to maintain product quality at volume while minimising assembly downtime. Thus, they need to catch any errors in the assembly process before the product reaches the end-of-line. Inline data from automated machines helps with this, too. IoT-enabled connectivity between assembly machines provides real-time insights into factory floor productivity. This allows manufacturers to implement predictive maintenance of assembly machines, thereby preventing loss of time and revenue.
Scalable, high-speed production The use of industrial IoT in high-speed, high-precision production allows manufacturers to predict any bottlenecks in the production process and avoid costly
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scenarios. Moreover, when complemented with analytics and AI, it can track and quantify material and equipment costs for each step. Consequently, manufacturing operations managers can figure out areas where they can increase efficiency and reduce costs. Medical device manufacturers can benefit from this by flexibly producing both high-volume, low-cost and low-volume, high-cost parts or different variants of a particular part or product.
Many medical device microparts come in varied sizes and specifications to serve different patient populations or for use in different medical devices. Parts like microcontacts or catheter tubes, for instance, can be made for different diameters, geometries and flexibility. Scalable automation platforms with instant changeovers allow medical device companies to manufacture different product variants in the same assembly line. These further speed up production and reduces machine downtime. Automation of assembly lines isn’t happening in a vacuum. In recent years, the medical device industry has adopted innovations to automate other aspects of manufacturing. “Things like warehouse control and inventory management would largely be automated,” says Vaughan. It’s already happening to some extent in the industry, but it could become much more ubiquitous. “It exists for very high-volume parts like electrical components, but you’ll see that deployed into lower-cost environments in the future,” adds Vaughan.
Real-time data from high-speed, high-precision assembly machines would be key to enabling these automations. But the benefits flow the other way too. Automated warehouse and inventory management could provide immediate, error-free access to the exact materials during assembly. Down the road, manufacturers will translate these benefits into more efficient and even more miniaturised pacemakers and other medical devices. ●
www.medicaldevice-developments.com
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