This is the second instalment of our four-part monthly Symphoni™ blog series. To learn more about Symphoni and how this platform can give you the advantage you need, please register for our Autoinjector Case Study or contact me to receive the link via email.
By Peng-Sang Cau
I get asked all the time, ‘What is Symphoni?’
I could say that it’s a combination of patented digital technology and a core methodology of efficiency. Or that it’s an assembly automation platform that delivers the versatility of pallets and robots at continuous motion rates.
But usually, my answer is more straightforward: Symphoni is a digital assembly platform, made upof both hardware and software, that is ideal for the medical device industry. Symphoni can produce small, discrete life-saving products like autoinjectors and syringes quickly and precisely. If we can help get these products out to market sooner, we’re saving lives.
Like Symphoni, SuperTrak expands and adapts as business requirements change.
As one of Symphoni’s core building blocks, SuperTrak’s linear motion technology carries parts from one station to the next for processing. SuperTrak is fast, scalable, and redeployable. After 20 years and three generations, one of the first SuperTrak systems ever delivered remains in use today.
Its servo control allows it to transport the pallets that carry components to synchronize with two other Symphoni building blocks: the RSM Arm and the RSM Disc, both of which will be discussed in-depth next month.
ATS’s Symphoni platform, together with SuperTrak, is a standard solution that can be configured to a whole array of needs. But when you peel back all the layers, it is geared towards reducing total costs of ownership, increasing efficiency and speed without sacrificing quality, and getting life-saving products to those who need them most.
See Symphoni in Motion on our YouTube Channel @Symphoni
In addition to its speed without sacrificing quality, Symphoni offers three fundamental advantages for manufacturers of medical devices:
Every Symphoni system is configured from standard building blocks that have been pre-tested and pre-validated before a purchase order is placed. This reduces automation risk and time to market. With every new piece of custom equipment, you have to start all over to get FDA approval. With Symphony, you’re 80% there.
Symphoni is inherently scalable, from each line of code to its whole design. Manufacturers can start with a single module, called Sonata, to develop and test the production process during R&D, and that same module will be part of the full production system after identical modules are added. Because of the shared functionality between modules, there is no mystery to the process: it’s just like stacking building blocks.
Finally, as a fully digital platform, Symphoni significantly reduces total ownership costs. Medical device manufacturers must often assemble their products in very expensive clean rooms. Because of its efficiency, Symphoni not only occupies substantially less space, but it also reduces tooling by up to 90%—meaning reduced operating costs and footprint.
The second core component is our patented Rapid Speed Matching, or RSM Technology®, which drives Symphoni’s RSM Disc and the RSM Arm. The lightweight RSM Arm is the workhorse of the system, using two axes and servo-controlled motion to efficiently move, manipulate, load, and assemble parts. The RSM Disc, meanwhile, functions like continuous motion dials, but it is 90% smaller and free of the inherent mechanical constraints. It transfers parts from an infeed system and synchronizes their motion with the Symphoni assembly cell.
We’ll send you a case study presented by one of the inventors of Symphoni that showcases how a medical device manufacturer was able to reduce touch tooling by over 90% and floor space by over 80%, by removing five stations for two different products.
Take me to the Symphoni Medical Device Case Study REGISTRATION FORM.