DRW Turns to Bright Machines to Increase Production By 10x Annually
January 29, 2020 | Business WireEstimated reading time: 3 minutes
Today, Bright Machines™ and Diagnostics for the Real World (DRW) announced Bright Machines will automate the production of DRW’s groundbreaking SAMBA diagnostic platform, allowing them to scale manufacturing and better meet the demands of their rapidly expanding user-base.
DRW will now use a Bright Machines Microfactory to automate the California-based manufacturing of the complex test cartridges used in the company’s SAMBA II diagnostics device. This partnership will enable the company to free their team from repetitive, labor-intensive assembly and inspection tasks while increasing output of these care-critical cartridges by 10x, to more than 1 million units a year, thanks to Bright Machines’ Software-Defined Manufacturing.
Software-Defined Manufacturing, which connects individual machines to an intelligent software layer to configure, monitor and manage operations, represents the next wave of industrial automation and is fundamental to reimagining the factory floor. In 2019, Bright Machines released its first product against this vision, Bright Machines Microfactories. Providing the next generation of automation, microfactories’ adaptive robotic systems take advantage of intelligent software, machine learning and computer vision to deliver significantly better assembly efficiency, while getting more intelligent and automated over time.
DRW, based in San Jose, CA and Cambridge, United Kingdom, offers rapid and reliable tests for infectious diseases, such as HIV, specifically designed for use in resource-limited environments. Developed at the Diagnostics Development Unit at the University of Cambridge, the diagnostic tools allow healthcare workers in remote regions of the world to quickly test and diagnose patients with infectious diseases directly at the point-of-care with easy-to-use test cartridges that require no refrigeration or cold-chain transport.
“Our devices impact the lives of hundreds of thousands of people who otherwise wouldn’t have access to centralized testing,” said Dr Helen Lee, Founder and CEO of DRW. “Bright Machines is helping us quickly scale our production capacity to make our products even more accessible to remote areas.”
For the rapidly growing number of clinics around the world that rely on DRW’s testing devices, affordability and availability of test cartridges is imperative to ensure fast, accurate diagnosis and disease management for patients. The implementation of a Bright Machines Microfactory allows DRW to better serve its existing customers and broaden its reach to underserved parts of the world, where access to advanced medical care is both limited and expensive.
“At Bright Machines, solving big, real-world problems is core to our mission,” said Amar Hanspal, CEO of Bright Machines. “We admire Diagnostics for the Real World for the important work they’re doing, and we’re proud to partner with them in their mission to scale their groundbreaking HIV testing technology to areas of the world that need it most.”
Specifically, adding a microfactory to the assembly and inspection phases of SAMBA II cartridge production will allow DRW to:
- Reduce assembly labor costs by two-thirds, enabling DRW to redeploy people across manufacturing operations to increase overall production output and capacity
- Speed up test cartridge assembly time from two minutes to just 20 seconds per unit
- Increase annual production capacity by 10x to more than 1 million units a year
“Bright Machines will allow us to produce more of our test cartridges at a faster rate, while also saving on labor costs,” said Jesse Lehga, Vice President of Operations & Business Development for DRW. “This cost savings and increased output will directly impact the price of our diagnostics technology, making our tests even more affordable and accessible around the world.”
About Bright Machines
Bright Machines helps companies manufacture more products, at a higher-quality and lower cost. The company’s software and robotic cells intelligently automates product assembly and inspection, helping solve the capacity needs and labor challenges of modern factories. With more than 500 employees worldwide and customers across North America, Europe and Asia, Bright Machines is headquartered in San Francisco with offices in Seattle and Tel-Aviv. Visit www.brightmachines.com.
About Diagnostics for the Real World Ltd.
DRW was founded in 2002 as a spinoff company from the University of Cambridge. The company is committed to tackling some of the world's most serious infectious diseases by making breakthrough point-of-care diagnostics broadly available, especially in resource-limited settings. For more information visit www.drw-ltd.com.
Suggested Items
KIC’s Miles Moreau to Present Profiling Basics and Best Practices at SMTA Wisconsin Chapter PCBA Profile Workshop
01/25/2024 | KICKIC, a renowned pioneer in thermal process and temperature measurement solutions for electronics manufacturing, announces that Miles Moreau, General Manager, will be a featured speaker at the SMTA Wisconsin Chapter In-Person PCBA Profile Workshop.
The Drive Toward UHDI and Substrates
09/20/2023 | I-Connect007 Editorial TeamPanasonic’s Darren Hitchcock spoke with the I-Connect007 Editorial Team on the complexities of moving toward ultra HDI manufacturing. As we learn in this conversation, the number of shifting constraints relative to traditional PCB fabrication is quite large and can sometimes conflict with each other.
Standard Of Excellence: The Products of the Future
09/19/2023 | Anaya Vardya -- Column: Standard of ExcellenceIn my last column, I discussed cutting-edge innovations in printed circuit board technology, focusing on innovative trends in ultra HDI, embedded passives and components, green PCBs, and advanced substrate materials. This month, I’m following up with the products these new PCB technologies are destined for. Why do we need all these new technologies?
Experience ViTrox's State-of-the-Art Offerings at SMTA Guadalajara 2023 Presented by Sales Channel Partner—SMTo Engineering
09/18/2023 | ViTroxViTrox, which aims to be the world’s most trusted technology company, is excited to announce that our trusted Sales Channel Partner (SCP) in Mexico, SMTo Engineering, S.A. de C.V., will be participating in SMTA Guadalajara Expo & Tech Forum. They will be exhibiting in Booth #911 from the 25th to the 26th of October 2023, at the Expo Guadalajara in Jalisco, Mexico.
Intel Unveils Industry-Leading Glass Substrates to Meet Demand for More Powerful Compute
09/18/2023 | IntelIntel announced one of the industry’s first glass substrates for next-generation advanced packaging, planned for the latter part of this decade.