Specialized Health Products, Inc. (SHPI), based in Bountiful, Utah, is a developer, manufacturer and marketer of proprietary safety medical devices, designed to minimize the risk of accidental needlesticks – often referred to as Safety Needles. SHPI has developed multiple safety needle products based upon two primary technology platforms, which apply to virtually all medical needles used today.
SHPI needles are produced at the Tijuana, Mexico facility of Integra Biotechnical LLC, a medical device contract manufacturer. SHPI designed, developed and controls eight assembly lines currently running at Integra.
In all cases, a stainless steel needle and tubing are secured in a plastic housing with an adhesive. “The process sounds simple,” says Mark Ferguson, Director of Product Development and Engineering for SHPI, “but these adhesive volumes are small, and precision dispensing is vital to the performance of our products.
| We evaluated a hydraulic positive displacement system, but the repeatability we needed was just not there,” recalls Ferguson. “It was too unreliable. A different version was stable, but leaking occurred in the hydraulic line between the drive motor in the controller and the dispensing gun, resulting in a loss of dispense precision. ”
We started looking around for a better process control solution and turned to the LDS9000, an AirFree™ dispensing system developed by Fishman. The LSD9000 offered the precision and repeatability in dispensing the UV-cured adhesive that is critical to our process. Ultimately, Fishman and the LDS9000 AirFree™ dispensing system solved the problem and helped achieve the company’s rigid quality assurance standards.
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