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Phone: (408) 988-1252 Fax: (408) 988-1126 |
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September 29, 1999 We
Helped a Start-Up Pharmaceutical Company Get into Business. Sunnyvale, California Meadows Manufacturing, a
modern mechanical design and CNC fabrication firm, was challenged to quickly
design, fabricate and assemble critical machinery needed by a start-up
pharmaceutical company to manufacture and package their new drug. The pharmaceutical
company developed a drug suspended in a material the consistency of wax that
would turn liquid at body temperature. The company was able to produce the
compound, but had difficulty manufacturing consistent individual doses.
Originally, mixing the compound in large batches and extruding it into small
doses was attempted. However, after months of work with a large engineering
firm, it was concluded their method could not produce the quantity or
consistency needed for production. The company then turned
to Meadows Manufacturing. Meadow’s engineers began working closely with the
company’s scientists to come up with a new way to manufacture the compound. A
novel method was proposed that not only solved the quantity and consistency
issues, but also provided a unique way to control individual dosages.
Meadows’ engineers then designed the mechanical hardware on PRO/EngineerTM
and manufactured it on their state of the art CNC machining centers.
The new process proved very repeatable. The company could now consistently
manufacture precise doses even from different batches of the drug. The next challenge for
Meadows engineers was to design and build the production machinery needed to
package the drug into individual applicators. Meadows’ engineers proceeded to
design an automated packaging machine to dispense the new drug into
individual applicators. The packaging machine quickly and accurately fills
individual applicators and may be readily modified so different dosages can
be easily manufactured. The unit incorporates a sophisticated servo
controller utilizing an easy to use menu driven program and touch screen
system. In addition, a vision system was incorporated to verify each
serialized applicator has the correct dosage. Meadows fabricated all
hardware, performed each assembly and tested every machine to insure quality
production. Meadows Manufacturing has
completed over 35 of the automated packaging machines to date. The machines
are installed in a modern facility dedicated to manufacturing the novel
compound. Meadows unique ability to engineer complex designs and rapidly
fabricate precise parts made it possible for this company to manufacture
their new drug. Meadows Manufacturing Corporation |
