Medical Manufacturing: Ways to Improve Fluid Dispensing Control Part One

Part One: Spraying and Coating

The purpose of this series is to show the many ways medical manufacturers can improve process control by changing one or more aspects of their fluid dispensing techniques.

Even a small change can lead to better results — better control, better part-to-part consistency, reduced costs, a safer work environment, or even a greener operation.

In each customer example, you’ll see a transformation. Processes go from being uncontrolled and un-measurable to controlled, highly repeatable, and highly measurable.

This series summarizes several examples to help you review your own processes from a fresh perspective – and to consider dispensing techniques you might not have previously considered. In part one, we discuss three examples that cover spraying and coating techniques for medical manufacturing.

Spraying and Coating

From Spray Bottle to Spray Valve

When an orthopedic equipment manufacturer replaced a manually-operated spray bottle with a precision spray valve to flush contamination from a product in its final stage of production, the medical manufacturer changed an inexact, un-measurable method to a precise and measurable process.

Now the company knows exactly how much fluid is used to flush each product and for how long. This provides a cost savings across multiple areas, including less fluid use and greater productivity. It also creates a more controlled process that provides exact data to demonstrate regulatory and safety compliance.

Key takeaway: Moving from a manual to a more automated dispensing process delivers benefits beyond just fluid savings.

Nordson EFD Solutions: Precision spray valves

From One Type of Valve to Another

A glass tube manufacturer in Asia was using a locally-sourced spray valve and spin cap that did not meet stringent quality controls, and caused problems such as over spray and inconsistent fluid patterns. When the medical manufacturer changed to a spray valve and spin cap from a different source, the over spray and application problems disappeared.

In many cases, switching from a lower quality component to a higher quality component in your dispensing system is an investment that pays for itself quickly by eliminating the extra costs caused by poor application quality and high reject rates.

Key takeaway: This is a great example of the fact that cost savings are all around you. You just need to take a closer look at equipment that may be putting your dispensing process at risk.

Nordson EFD Solutions: 782RA radial spray valve

From Cotton Swab to Radial Spinner

In this example, a clinical consumables company reduced process time by 70% by upgrading from manually applying silicone oil inside a vial using a cotton swab to automating the application with a radial spinner dispense valve system.

Problems caused by using a cotton swab were significant:

• Multiple operators were required to keep up with production
• The amount of fluid applied varied greatly by operator
• Spills on the product and the work surface were inescapable
• The rework rate was 50%

Changing to a radial spinner that evenly sprayed a specific volume of fluid into the vial nearly eliminated rejects and rework, providing a significant reduction in production time. It also eliminated the need for multiple operators, which significantly saved production costs.

Key takeaway: Oftentimes, a simple operation is not always quite so simple. Companies can receive dramatic payback by researching hidden costs.

Nordson EFD Solutions: Radial spinner valve system

Next Up…Part Two: Filling

In the next part of our series on how to improve medical manufacturing dispensing processes, we will discuss better ways to execute filling applications.

If you have any questions about how to improve your medical dispensing process, don’t hesitate to email us at [email protected].