WEISS Satisfies the Demands of Life Sciences

Syringe production, laboratory automation, microscopy, highly-accurate dispensing applications used in conjunction with a vision system, medical consumables such as mask production, and various systems configured for diagnostic testing are all examples of applications where WEISS has been successful in providing a comprehensive subsystem that integrates perfectly with the customer’s assembly or manufacturing machine.

In one such example, a customer contacted WEISS to provide immediate support in the development of an assembly system used in the manufacture of SARS-CoV-2 virus testing kits. The completed system would allow for the production of nearly one million testing kits each week. The customer was required to design and build the system within eight weeks. The typical timeframe for building and delivering a sixty-foot machine that is capable of producing 6,000 units per hour is thirty-five weeks but with the help of WEISS, the machine was designed, built and delivered within the required eight-week timeframe.

It took WEISS just sixteen days to understand the specific requirements of the application, specify the components, develop the control packages and ship the order to the customer, who integrated the WEISS components into their assembly system.

Each system utilizes six high speed and highly accurate WEISS HP140 pick and place units with varying horizontal and vertical stroke, as well as process-specific control packages. Each HP140 unit and control package performs a unique function within the assembly system throughout the production process, such as precisely picking and placing the various plastic wafers, fiber membranes, vials and other components that make up the test kits. Paired with WEISS automatic lubrication units, these maintenance free handling systems are capable of the low duty cycle/high throughput requirement that is needed to produce millions of test kits per month. Being able to meet the high demands of this project and its unimaginable lead-time requirements would have been impossible without tremendous effort and cooperation between all involved.

Another example is a precision linear system with a granite substructure that is used during the dispensing process in the production of blood sensors.  Using the stable granite substructure enables us to achieve optimal rigidity across multiple axes and ultimately achieve position steps of 1 µm (see photo).

WEISS can customize systems to meet virtually every need or we can use our standard platforms, including linear motors, torque motors, highly-accurate and robust delta robots, MK cross tables, our linear transfer system and, of course, our high-quality index tables. Using our standard, proven solutions will limit your risk and decrease your overall cost of integration while providing you with ease of use and programmability when used with our WEISS Application Software (W.A.S. 2).

At WEISS North America, our solutions satisfy the needs of many different industries. When it comes to Life Sciences, specifically, WEISS manufactures high-performance motion control solutions using our standard product offering and working closely with our customers to produce a solution that satisfies the demands of the particular application.

In Life Sciences and medical design manufacturing there are many unforeseen factors that can impact our day to day activities or impact our overall decision-making abilities. We are all living through this right now with the global impact of the Covid-19 virus – making it more and more difficult for all of us to meet the market demand and supply an accurate forecast. 

WEISS has always taken pride in the quality of our product and customer service. We know that response time is critical in order to meet the demand of the market and the demand of our customers. With this in mind, we work diligently with our customers in order to produce a fully tested and validated system to minimize their risk and lower their overall cost of integration. By WEISS inheriting some of the risk, it allows our customers to put more focus where it is needed, thus completing the project more efficiently and satisfying the market’s critical demand.