Kinematic Automation Uses SolidWorks to Automate the Manufacturing of Life-Saving Diagnostic Products

Medical industry manufacturer reducing R&D costs, time to market, and scrap by up to 50 percent.

CONCORD, Mass., USA – A drop of blood and a plastic strip the size of a matchstick can give a diabetes patient a world of life-or-death medical information.

Dassault Systèmes SolidWorks Corp. customer Kinematic Automation of Sonora, Calif., makes the precision machines that make these strips – for diabetes as well as cholesterol, pregnancy, HIV, and toxin testing. These systems treat, slice, and package test strips at rates of up to 50 strips per second each, with a total of approximately 8 billion produced per year. Approximately half the world’s glucose strips are produced by Kinematic Automation machines.

“This is a highly competitive industry,” said Kinematic Automation Mechanical Design Engineer Patrick Grimes. “It’s vital to be first to market with the most reliable, serviceable, and highest-quality machines. SolidWorks® software helps us achieve these goals by enabling us to quickly model designs, communicate our intent to customers, make the necessary changes, and collaborate with our manufacturing team.”

Kinematic Automation machines can have 5,000 parts. In designing them, the company has used SolidWorks to:

* Shorten time to market by 30-40 percent;
* Reduce development cost by 25 percent; and
* Cut scrap and rework costs by 50 percent.

The company has also implemented SolidWorks Enterprise PDM data management software to automate the engineering change order (ECO) workflow and render it paperless. The automation of this previously tedious process will save the company time, money, and labor.

“We’re a lean company that is increasingly competitive nationally and internationally,” said Grimes. “Not only are we competing against other vendors, we’re competing against diseases that can be halted, reversed, or managed with the help of the proper diagnostics. SolidWorks is a critical ingredient in our life-saving mission.”