Ethypharm is a European-based speciality pharmaceutical company with global reach and a committed player in the treatment of pain, addiction, and critical care. In the UK they are recognised as a key partner to the NHS and the private hospital sector with their range of quality products.
To ensure continuous, high-quality production of a range of products, Ethypharm has adopted high-speed, automated production and every product must be packaged in highly controlled environments which are regulated by strict protocols on cleanliness, material contact and repeatability.
Such high-speed production lines require regular maintenance and set-up by highly skilled engineers, and use a vast range of change and format parts to adapt the machines to different pack sizes and formats.
These format and change parts can become worn, damaged, or broken, particularly during change-over procedures, leading to unplanned–and in some cases, lengthy–downtime. While it’s common for the lead time of format and change parts to be ten weeks or more, downtime costs can be significant, particularly when involving high value product.
Result
Turnaround by AddParts was just 72 hrs. The star wheel and guide part were back on the machine within only 4 days.
What did we do?
Within hours of receiving them, Additon engineers reverse engineered the parts using a combination of specialist reverse engineering tools and digital scanning of critical dimensions, and with digital design checks used to ensure exact fitment, 3D models of the parts were created.
The CAD models were then sent to our in-house industrial Prodways SLS printer that evening and printed in a fully traceable food contact nylon PA12 overnight.
Removed from the printer the next day, the parts were then smoothed using the latest Powershot technology from DyeMansion to quickly remove excess powder before finishing them to give a scratch resistant, easy to clean surface. The parts where then reassembled using thread inserts, packed, and dispatched on same-day courier delivery.
In the case of critical parts, which cannot be removed from the machine, duplication was completed on-site at Ethypharm in Romford. The parts were then produced in a suitable material using fully traceable materials and supplied with certificates of conformity, in most cases less than 7 days.
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