One of three cleanroom systems produced for Schott Forma Vitrum has been successfully installed at Schott Inc., Lebanon, PA in autumn 2011. The systems of cleanroom class 5 are dedicated to inspecting and sealing of tubs. The community of INSYS machines in USA has been increased by another member. For the first time in history, another INSYS system has been shipped to China in December 2011. It ensures the fully automated testing and marking of medical screws and has been installed in a Johnson & Johnson company.

Electrical Pick-and-Place devices offer considerable advantages in assembly lines. They allow flexible programming, easy changes in operating parameters and do not require compressed air for operation. The first INSYS assembly system with purely electrical Pick-and-Place axes has become operational at BBraun, Eschholzmatt (CH) these days. It assembles infusion devices. A second all-electric assembly line is currently completed at INSYS.

After its first presentation at the EPMT fair in Lausanne (CH), the i- Center 550 is well received by different industries. Several orders have been placed by medical and watch industry companies (processing of implants and polishing of watch cases). Beside of this, a considerable demand of aerospace and defense industry has been recognised.
The first i- Center is in operation at Jurasit, Les Bois (CH). It automates the final processing of watch cases, which has been manually done so far. Even during its start-up phase, production data prove the clear economical benefit of this investment in automating grinding and polishing processes.

INSYS introduces its i- Center 550 as the first member of a new generation of fully automated robot-processing cells. Its development summarizes the knowlegde of more than 200 systems supplied for a wide range of different applications. The i- Center convinces by its modern, transparent design, its extremely user-friedly operation, its modularity and the broad range of customer specific configurations. It provides the proven INSYS processing software and allows the fully automated, precise and highly flexible processing of free-shape parts. Valuable watch parts, medical implants, fan blades of aerospace and energy generation turbines and precision instruments are typical for its broad range of operation. It includes not only the processing of metallic alloys, but also ceramics and a wide spectrum of other materials.

Facility of the Year Awards are dedicated to innovation and cutting-edge engineering of production processes in medical and pharmaceutical industries and assigned by ISPE, INTERPHEX and the Pharmaceutical Processing Magazine. Year 2011 award in the category „Process Innovation“ has been assigned to Hoffmann – La Roche for its „MyDose Clinical Supply Project“. MyDose is an single-use infusion device for the self-medication of the patient.

The most challenging and awarded part of MyDose production has been the implementation of a laser welding process in a clean room environment of class 5. This process and the corresponding manufacturing system have been developed and produced by INSYS. Its production start-up has been in spring 2010 at Hoffmann – La Roche in Kaiseraugst, Switzerland. The project finds its succession in a currently running design and installation of a second system with increased production rates, again in cooperation with INSYS.

http://www.facilityoftheyear.org/foyawinners2011#hoffman