Allergy Therapeutics - Production Tray
The Company.
Allergy Therapeutics is a European-based specialist pharmaceutical company that focuses on diagnosing, preventing and treating allergies.
The Product.
Our work for Allergy Therapeutics was a production-based product. They make large numbers of allergy vaccinations, which are crucial to allergy sufferers. To make the vaccinations, they require trays to hold the vials while they’re being processed and transported through the production line.
The Problem.
The trays that Allergy Therapeutics were using to hold the vials were thin vacuum formings, which meant they were expensive to produce and they could only be used once. Allergy Therapeutics wanted to find a more efficient, cost-effective method of holding the vials as they went through the assembly process. They also wanted the trays to be reusable so the material had to be both resilient and able to withstand the demanding sterilising environment of a pharmaceutical company.
The Solution.
Our work for Allergy Therapeutics began with product design, as we brainstormed ideas to improve the efficiency of their vaccination production, and produce a design that would withstand the tough environment and be better suited to high volumes of production.
The key criteria for this design was its integration in the assembly process so we needed to test this before moving to full production. For this we produced a series of prototypes for Allergy to take away and test for an extended period of time. This enabled them to check that the product would be suitable for the task and the requirements of their workers.
Throughout the design process we focused on design for manufacture, so the final product would be cost effective and efficient to produce via injection moulding and large-scale manufacture.
Allergy Therapeutics partnered with our sister company, Nebulem Manufacturing Ltd, to manufacture the final design, which gave them quality assurance throughout the design and production process, and gave them a single point of contact for any queries.
The Outcome.
Following our collaboration with Allergy Therapeutics, the expensive, single-use trays were consigned to the history books, and they were replaced with a resilient, versatile tray made from polypropylene. Our trays are capable of holding more vials, and were designed with minimal support to hold the vials in place to enable their thorough sterilisation between stages of production. They can be used repeatedly, ensuring huge cost savings in the production of allergy vaccinations without any loss of quality.
Project Details.
CLIENT
Allergy Therapeutics
DATE
2013
CATEGORIES
Product Design, Design for Manufacture, Prototyping