Artificial Intelligence and Big Data forms focus on ENGEL’s medical technology conference – Plastics Insight

The medical technology conference med.con 2020, hosted by ENGEL at its Technologieforum in Stuttgart during mid February, was a huge success. The conference was a full house as more than 100 delegates attended it.

The main talk point at the conference was patient safety through advanced technology and was discussed from the various perspectives of plastics processing in the cleanroom and conveyed in a tangible way using live machine exhibits.

With artificial intelligence and big data being the focus, it was deliberated that the potential for more quality, safety, and cost-efficiency in medical technology is yet to be fully exploited.

Summing up the massive challenge that the volume of data generated is increasing, but the use of the data is not, Uwe Herbert, IT manager at Ypsomed, a manufacturer of injection systems for self-medication, in his keynote address mentions, We are passing up opportunities here

Uwe advocates that it is necessary to link the IT system of the individual department in the company and provide the employees with the freedom they need to experiment with the new possibilities to improve the quality of the products and reduce the unit costs. However, according to Uwe, the complexity of these projects is often underestimated.

Speaking of artificial intelligence, Christian Pommereau, principal engineer with pharmaceutical company Sanofi-Aventis Deutschland, emphasizes, We need to shift up a gear when it comes to artificial intelligence. To avoid the plastics processing industry losing touch, we need everyone around the table, adds Christian. He has witnessed within his own group of companies how far ahead the drug production industry is in this field.

Both the above-mentioned speakers sparked a lively discussion. It became clear that the industry has long recognized the great potential that Industry 4.0 has to offer. But obstacles often remain to adopt the new technologies for reflecting the specific requirements of cleanroom production. For instance, the validation of dynamic process control with the help of intelligent assistance, an important feature of the smart factory, has to be planned in detail and designed safely.

Christoph Lhota, vice president, ENGEL medical, reported on how ENGELs iQ weight control assistance system can be integrated into rules and regulations accepted by the auditors, based on ongoing development work.

The ENGEL developers have investigated various approaches to the validation process and ultimately derived a procedure that defines process windows for the parameters to be retroactively adjusted, enabling the validation of dynamically controlled processes in conformity with both EN ISO and the FDA.

In his keynote, Christoph gave an outlook on other topics that are gaining in importance in medical technology and on which ENGELs developers are working intensively. These comprise of injection molding of liquid silicone rubber in the cleanroom, efficient injection molding of very small batch sizes and sterile injection molding, like cleanroom class ISO 5 is increasingly required in plastics processing.

Talking about ISO 5, Christoph informs, It is a totally different planet. The opening speed of the injection molding machine is significant here. To specifically adapt its machines, robots and technologies to this new class of requirements, ENGEL operates its own clean room at its headquarters in Schwertberg.

Among the eight presentations during the keynote session, other speakers were Martin Maier from Waldorf Technik, Reinhard Steger from Braunform, Martin Jungbluth from Max Petek Reinraumtechnik, and Jrg Leonhartsberger and Claus Wilde from ENGEL.

During the conference, especially in the breaks, and following the talks, ENGEL opened up its technology center with live exhibits and a partner exhibition.

ENGELs high level of expertise in systems solutions was noticeable in the clean room injection molding applications. Sophisticated medical products were manufactured in highly-integrated and automated production cells throughout the event.

There were thick-walled housing parts which can be produced in an 8-cavity mold using servo-electric Vario-Spinstack technology from Hack Formenbau in particularly short cycle times and with a correspondingly low unit cost, thanks to the two-component process.

It also showcased needle holders for 1 ml safety syringes in a 16-cavity mold by Fostag Formenbau with a particularly low shot weight of 0.08 grams per part. The needle holders very thin and different wall thicknesses require extremely precise process control, which ENGEL ensures with iQ weight control.

The needle holders are taken off by a viper linear robot and transferred to the pipe distribution system, developed by ENGEL and made completely of stainless steel, in order to package the filigree mouded parts sorted by cavity.

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Artificial Intelligence and Big Data forms focus on ENGEL's medical technology conference - Plastics Insight