Now more than ever, it is crucial to make the right choice regarding an automation system for pipette production. Demand for pipettes is exploding and, in some cases, lead times are getting prohibitively long. There is no question that compromising output for price or lead time will be a very poor choice and you will pay for it for the next decade.
Some are skeptical about the sustainability of the recent surge in pipette consumption and attribute the increased demand to COVID-19. The more likely scenario is that we have experienced a step change, and that the increased demand will continue to 2025 and even beyond.
There is also a trend to higher-quality pipette tips. There is pressure to do more tests in less time and automated systems require tips with tighter tolerances. Regulatory requirements for testing will also make filtered tips the majority almost overnight. What does that mean for brand owners and contract manufacturers? A need to increase capacity as fast as possible.
How to Automate Disposable Pasteur Pipette Production？
Demand for pipettes is projected to increase through 2025 and beyond.
The are many critical factors you need to consider when choosing a manufacturing concept, independent of the supplier you select. As output increases, the impact of any compromise becomes more significant. When it comes to high-volume, close-tolerance medical parts like pipette tips, the two most important factors are throughput and output; throughout being the instantaneous rate of production and output is the sustainability of throughput over time. Both are vitally important, and neither is easy to accomplish.
The best possible cycle time is determined by the limits of the slowest component. Sacrificing cycle time for the sake of capital expense is always a bad choice. The part should be the determining factor, but all too often it is not. Simply put, each production hardware component has its points of impact and you need to determine the limits of each. These are all things that are determinable, and each supplier of the key components should be willing to make the commitment to achieve the necessary performance in continuous operation.
Sacrificing cycle time for the sake of capital expense is always a bad choice.
Maintaining throughput over time requires a disciplined approach to designing the best possible solution, particularly for the automation. There are four components that are considered “detractors” to Overall Equipment Efficiency (OEE): scheduled maintenance, product changeovers and lot changes, internal and external influences, and macro and micro stops.
How a blow molding machine can produce pipette in automation? this video will show you a better way:
The positive impact of optimizing throughput and output can be massive. The monetization of the effect is directly dependent on the application but needs to be quantified and considered before making any investments.
There is a very strong relationship between flexibility and reliability. In most cases, something that can do everything is not really good at anything. High-speed automation is capital intensive—that is a plain and simple fact. What automation should not be is expensive. If it is perceived to be too expensive, something is really wrong.
For extremely production capacity, blow mold can be made in a special pattern like this:
In most cases, something that can do everything is not really good at anything.
An automation solution that is not highly utilized is far less effective. You need to have flexibility, but the flexibility should be a definite need, not “just in case we have a need for it.” The goal should be 100% utilization and not 100% coverage of all applications.
Automating Pipette Production
The potential benefits are notable in cutting waste and reducing returns and warranty costs. To leverage these benefits means a significant commitment to maintaining the “purity” of the solution. That can certainly be done, but the question is “do you really want to do that”?
100% Vision Inspection & Rejection
Increasingly, 100% inspection is becoming a more desirable choice than cavity-specific sorting. Just sorting by cavity does not mean that the parts are good and does not facilitate the QC process. The same systemic defects will develop over time, and inspecting even 1 tip from each cavity every 3 hr would require at least three people working 24/7 and costs a fortune. Many have the opinion that, if the parts are known to be good, the benefits of cavity-specific sorting diminish. The cost benefits of 100% inspection are many in both direct and indirect labor costs.
Moreover, not sorting by cavity does not mean you cannot have traceability, if you use 100% inspection. Why not do both, then? That is a definite possibility, but the cost of the equipment and the substantial floor space required make implementation of such a “belt-and-suspenders” approach impractical. Fully 100% inspection is a better choice, and the benefits are more tangible. An effective alternative could be “cluster-specific sorting,” which can be combined with 100% inspection and is much less cumbersome.
There are systems in the market that utilize three types of measurements (Fig. 2). The first measurement covers 100% of the parts, but not 100% of the possible defects. The 100% inspection is intended to detect sporadic defects (which come and go and whose root cause is difficult to determine) and systemic defects (which develop over time or are permanent in nature—like a broken core pin).
Capital Expenses & Cost Benefits
Anyone who has investigated vision inspection systems knows that there is significant capital expense involved. Like all of the other components of the automation cell, it is not the cost that is important but rather the value it provides. In automation the motto is “follow the money—it will always lead you to the right answer.”
Savings from implementation can be evaluated in four categories. The quantification of the potential impact will depend on the application, but the criteria are always the same:
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Direct and Indirect Labor: Without automated online inspection, there is a lot of direct and indirect QC labor required, and the higher output makes the tasks more challenging. Most facilities operate 24 hr/day, so three shifts of coverage are required. The labor savings alone usually justify the investment in a few months.
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Early Defect Detection: Early detection of both sporadic and systemic defects saves further processing and expending of additional consumables. Without 100% inspection, defects are only detected when the parts are finished, packaged and sometimes shipped. Late-stage detection almost always results in scrapping to a landfill.
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Reduced Waste: Waste is reduced by rejecting parts after molding and before additional operations are completed. That means only about 6.5% of the material costs are consumed. It also allows for the mono-material tips to be reclaimed. In many cases, if necessary, production can be stopped before running scrap at very high rates.
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Prevention of Unplanned Downtime: Statistical measurements are particularly useful in measuring the gradual progression of mold wear that contributes to excessive run-out or flash. Quality statistics can predict the required maintenance interval so repairs can be planned.
HERE LISTS MOSTLY 8 APPLICATIONS OF PASTEUR PIPETTE
Pasteur pipettes, also known as Droppers are used to transfer small quantities of liquids. This liquid handling tool was first discovered by a famous scientist Louis Pasteur in the 19th century. He is well known for the Pasteurisation process. The “Pasteur Pipettes” were named after his name. The pasteur pipettes are commonly used in laboratories to dispense small amounts of liquid medicines. They are tapered to a narrow opening point at the lower end and fitted with a plastic or rubber bulb at the upper end. The liquid is transferred with the help of a rubber bulb which is fitted on the top of the pipette. Nowadays, disposable pasteur pipettes are widely used in all purpose. this plastic disposable pasteur pipettes are made by extrusion blow molding.
Cell Culture: In cell culture applications, Pasteur pipettes are often used for transferring cell suspensions, media, or other solutions within a sterile environment.
Microbiology: In microbiology, Pasteur pipettes can be used for inoculating cultures, transferring bacterial or fungal samples, and performing dilutions.
Life Sciences and Biological Laboratories
Used for transferring cell culture media, serum, buffers, or staining solutions during non-quantitative workflows such as cell passaging, washing, or staining.
Chemical Analysis
Used for adding reagents, buffer solutions, or solvents during preparatory steps or qualitative titration experiments.
Clinical and Medical Testing
Applied in pre-treatment of blood samples, inter-container liquid transfers, or handling of trace biological fluids. Disposable sterile variants are preferred for infection control.
Education and Teaching Labs
Owing to their simplicity and low cost, Pasteur pipettes are commonly used in instructional demonstrations and training in basic laboratory liquid handling.
Microscale column chromatography
Column chromatography constructed using plastic Pasteur pipette
The constriction toward the tip of the Pasteur pipettes may be plugged with a bit of tissue paper or cotton wool to filter off solids from small amounts of liquids. The bulb can be attached and squeezed to help viscous solutions filter more rapidly.
With a bit of skill, Pasteur pipettes may also be used for microscale column chromatography. With appropriately fine silica gel, the bulb may be squeezed for microscale flash column chromatography.
Microscale distillation
Pasteur pipettes can also be used for microscale distillation. The liquid to be distilled is placed into a small reaction tube along with a boiling chip and heated to reflux one-half to two-thirds of the way up the inside of the tube. After squeezing the bulb to expel air, a pasteur pipette is inserted into the tube just below the level of the ring of refluxing liquid (into the vapor). The vapor is then drawn into the relatively cold pipette tip, causing it to condense and accumulate inside of the pipette.
Microscale liquid storage
Heat can be applied to the tip of a plastic Pasteur pipette to seal the solution and create a liquid-tight storage.
Medical laboratories
Medical laboratories required high efficiency and precision for drug test and observation of diseases. Pasteur pipettes are commonly used in the medical lab because of its essential accuracy. The design of the Pasteur pipette allows for high effective performance in the medical lab. It produces a constant volume of drop. This reduces the concern of liquid remaining in the pipette.
