Digital spare parts service leverages 3D printing for pharma carton manufacturer

Use of 3D scanning and print by Addition Design is allowing Chester Medical to cut costs by over 40% and make major savings on leadtimes which, for many original parts, can be up to 60 days.

The Wales-based carton and leaflet converting facility has joined forces with Addition Design’s AddParts service, offering on-demand response to component needs on Chester Medical’s folding and gluing lines.

Director at Addition Design Tom Fripp explains the customer’s requirements. “Chester Medical operates a number of automated and semi-automated production lines to print both folded cartons and patient information leaflets. These machines run at very high speeds to ensure that products are delivered at competitive prices. But with speed and accuracy comes complexity, and hundreds of moving parts that are critical to smooth, accurate operation.

“The machines are typically supplied by major manufacturers and require a steady stream of replacement components,” he continues. “However, it’s not unheard of for such components to be available with particularly long leadtimes of up to two months. So, either spares are held in stock, meaning inventory management, space and cash tied up in stores, or [you] risk expensive downtime.”

The customer initially identified two key components that often fail, and where digital spares made the most obvious sense. Examples were sent to Addition Design to be 3D scanned and added to Chester Medical’s digital storeroom on the AddParts portal, where the scans could be reviewed for any optimisation or design changes.

For these initial two parts, replacement folder/gluer clamps and the folding plate locking handles arrived at the customer within just four days of the start of this process.

Operations manager at Chester Medical Ronnie Delamar says that the AddParts service has been a game-changer for the company. “For too long it’s just been accepted that spare parts can take ages, that we have to pay loads for them and hold huge amounts in stock,” he says. “But with AddParts, we don’t have to. The parts they have supplied are great quality and are really doing the business for us. We couldn’t be happier and have big plans to have the guys over to our site to keep building up our digital storeroom.”

As well as conventional printing, Chester Medical supplies digitally-printed cartons and leaflets to cater for growing pharma demands for short-run, short-leadtime manufacture.

0114 269 3869

www.addparts.co.uk