In an age where new and more stringent rules and quality regulations are reshaping medical device manufacturing, manufacturers are looking for more speed and accuracy during production. They are now investing in newer technologies that add to the precision of operations. Herein stems the importance of collaborative robots. Errors resulting from manual operations are no longer accepted, leading to increasing demand for the automation of certain repeatable tasks. And collaborative robots are emerging as a viable alternative that allows operators and robots to work safely side-by-side. They create products faster and with more precision – eliminating repetitive, strenuous tasks from operators, which can have adverse effects on health and wellbeing. Operators are now free to focus on tasks that require creativity, reasoning and critical thinking. In medical device manufacturing, collaborative robots are utilized for handling delicate products that are prone to damage from stress due to manipulation. With onboard, robust vision capabilities, collaborative robots can detect and report on the flaws of a product or batch of products, providing a higher confidence in the quality of produced goods.

This solution will help you:

  • Prevent repetitive stress injuries, one of the most costly workplace hazards
  • Error-proof processing to detect manufacturing abnormalities preventing the cost of recalls
  • Reliably perform repetitive tasks with virtually no downtime
  • Read data displayed on an HMI to make intelligent production decisions

Complete, automated pipetting solution improves COVID-19 sample analysis

Speed and accuracy are critical in the evaluation of COVID-19 samples. Seeing an opportunity to improve both, GriPS Automation GmbH and D&T Engineering GmbH worked with Omron to automate the pipetting part of the process. Thanks to a smart, end-to-end solution incorporating a Cobra 450 robot, a MicroHAWK V330-F compact barcode reader, and other Omron technologies, the companies cut the processing time from an hour to just ten minutes per plate. Check out this video to see how it works!