Helping MedTech Companies – from Proof of Concept to Advanced Automation Solutions
AutomationsPartner was founded in the early 1990s with the aim of designing, manufacturing, and delivering advanced automation solutions for the MedTech and pharmaceutical industries, global sectors with stringent requirements for quality, traceability, and flexibility. Today, the company has 85 employees and, with more than 300 completed projects, its experience spans everything from feasibility studies and concept development to engineering, manufacturing, commissioning, and service.
– The key to our success is our capacity for innovation, expertise, quality, responsiveness, and flexibility. We work closely with our customers, building collaborations where we exchange knowledge and ideas, enabling us to deliver strategic development services, says Henrik Rosengren, CEO of AutomationsPartner.
In 2024, the company inaugurated its new facility in Helsingborg, doubling the space available for production, offices, and automation laboratories, as well as introducing the new AP Innovation Studio. The development department, AP Develop, plays an important role in testing and verifying critical processes at an early stage through Proof of Concept, PoC, reducing the risks associated with machine development, particularly for products that are still under development.
– Machine development often takes place in parallel with the customer’s product development. At an early stage, AP Develop works closely with the customer to identify potential development opportunities related to the product’s materials, design, and manufacturing process, says Peter Gustavsson, Head of AP Develop at AutomationsPartner.
– We have access to a fantastic facility, but our greatest strength is the expertise within the company.
Process and Concept Development
Drawing on the expertise within AutomationsPartner, the company can support customers with process and concept development. Process development may be required when a customer has an established manufacturing process that needs to be modified.
– This could involve finding a new material when the previous one has been discontinued, for example for environmental reasons, or making changes to the product design.
– In concept development, the customer starts with a product idea and wants to explore how it can best be designed to enable robust automation. We look at which technologies should be used and how we can create an efficient process from the outset.
Through close and transparent collaboration, AP Develop often becomes an extension of the customer’s own engineering and development department, where even undesired results can provide valuable insights.
– All results are important, including negative ones. By testing different solutions and collecting data, we and the customer can draw well-founded conclusions. Ultimately, this is what enables the finished production equipment to consistently deliver high-quality products over the long term, with as little scrap as possible.
Testing in a Laboratory Environment
By identifying details relating to product geometry, tolerances, materials, or how components should be handled and positioned, the product design can be adapted to work more effectively with the future automation solution. Once an idea has been identified, the next step is often to determine whether it works in practice.
– In our automation laboratory and cleanroom, the team can conduct both simple and more advanced tests. If a test shows promise, the next step may be to produce samples that resemble the actual product and have been manufactured using the new technology, says Peter Gustavsson.
– The customer can then compare the samples with their existing product and assess their function, quality, and appearance. This provides an initial, tangible indication of the solution’s potential and what adjustments need to be made. Ultimately, we reach the point where the customer has verified both the product and the manufacturing process and can begin production.
