When you visit the dentist, it is important to be able to trust that the equipment being used has been cleaned and sterilised. An autoclave is used as an important part of this process. An autoclave is a sealed container in which the dental instruments are placed. The container is filled with steam at well-defined pressure and temperature, and a standardised cycle is carried out during which the equipment is sterilised and lubricated.
For the dental equipment manufacturer Sirona, which among other things produces autoclaves, this means they spend significant resources testing the autoclaves before they are shipped to customers. This process consisted of several time-consuming, manual procedures that they wanted to automate to reduce test time and free up resources.
Sirona wanted to automate their time-consuming, manual autoclave test processes to reduce test time and free up resources—without compromising on quality and documentation.
Automated production testing based on NI TestStand and LabVIEW, integrated into a production line with MES control, leak testing, burn-in and a repair station.
Faster and more efficient testing, lower cost per unit and better collaboration between production and development—along with improved quality of new products.
“How can we make our work testing autoclaves easier without compromising on quality?” That was the challenge from Sirona.
At GPower, we helped Sirona move all their manual test processes into TestStand, a standardised sequence engine. In addition, we built the production test into a production line, which also came to include burn-in and a repair station—all controlled by an MES (Measurement Execution System) and programmed in LabVIEW.
After Sirona moved all their production tests to TestStand, it has become much easier, faster and cheaper for them to maintain and expand their test programs. Furthermore, the MES integration and automated leak testing have helped improve workflows and, not least, reduce the cost of each individual unit. This is due, among other things, to there no longer being the same need to monitor the individual sub-tests of the autoclaves, nor the same need for manual processes as before—all as a result of increased automation.
An additional positive effect of the automation has been that Sirona’s development department can use the same equipment to test prototypes as is used for production testing of the finished autoclaves. In addition, automation has increased efficiency in the development department and improved the quality of newly developed autoclaves, as they now come into contact with production testing much earlier.
A great deal of specific know-how underpinned the production testing of the autoclaves—for example, when ultra-fine leaks had to be located. This know-how had to be carried over into automated production, and since the production of medical equipment is itself subject to strict control, there were high requirements for documentation.
– Sirona
As a result, it will not be possible to complete purchases today, and throughout the day only the Danish version of the website will be available.
If you have any questions, or if you would like to make a purchase during the day, you are—as always—very welcome to contact us:
Gabrielle, Marketing Manager: +45 5190 5790.
Thank you for your understanding—we look forward to welcoming you to our new website!
