Medical Product Outsourcing (MPO) - 09/2021

Julie Logothetis was interviewed in the following article – Automatic Pilot: Automation Provides Solutions for Assembly Challenges

Industry 4.0 and IoT technologies can help provide solutions for the growing assembly and automation demands from medical device manufacturers. Products are getting smaller and more complex—this miniaturization puts increased pressure on automation and component suppliers to make high-volume components at much tighter tolerances than they’re used to.

Industry 4.0 technologies help to integrate operations, parts, workstations, and other tasks seamlessly across the factory floor. Medical device OEMs rely on automation to maximize product quality through consistent part assembly, precise placement of smaller or high-precision medical products, and manufacturing speed for higher volumes. Sensors, big data, and predictive analytics also analyze machine performance and boost production, throughput, and maintenance.

To gain more insight on the trends and challenges affecting the assembly and automation industries, I spoke with several assembly and automation experts over the past few weeks:

The COVID-19 pandemic has called for a huge increase in demand for basic medical devices. U.S. manufacturers who spent the last few decades thinking about ways to cut costs by purchasing the products from China and not investing in updates to their internal manufacturing infrastructure are now seeing upgrades to their manufacturing are going to be needed.
– Julie Logothetis, president of Kahle Automation, a Morristown, N.J.-based provider of high-speed automation and process equipment for the medical device, pharmaceutical, and healthcare industries.