Consumables
We are a leading OEM supplier of smart polymer-based consumables to the in-vitro diagnostics, life sciences and medical technology industries as well as selected segments of the electronic industry.
Over many years of research and development, we have developed a unique combination of skills including nano- and microstructuring, coating technologies, polymer sciences and automated assembly and have set them to work in our mass production facilities.
STRATEC Consumables Headquarters
MISSION AND VISION
OUR MISSION
We place our customers at the center of our activities; their success is our success.
Building on our experience, our passionate people are committed to build reliable relationships and provide confidence to all our partners and colleagues. We continually invest into innovation in research, development and production, also by engaging in strong networks with partners, suppliers and customers.
By applying innovative solutions we enable the industrialization of novel approaches. We take on the responsibility to deliver scalable, reliable and efficient high volume manufacturing at the required quality.
Everybody in our company contributes to the achievement of our vision.
OUR VISION
We will be the go-to partner for the development and manufacturing of demanding and high performance polymer consumables for the leading companies in the fields of IVD, life sciences and med-tech industries.
Our Offer
- Design for manufacturing
- Development engineering services
- Up-scaling & mass manufacturing
- Standard Consumables
Our Values
- Reliability
- Quality – ISO 13485 certified plant
- Safety of supply
Your Benefit
- High quality devices
- One partner from development to mass-production
- New and innovative technologies and business models
- Various prototyping solutions
Our Value Chain
High-quality and cost-effective manufacturing of precision polymer parts and consumables are of utmost importance in the diagnostics industry as well as other industries.
Our interdisciplinary team of engineers offers full solutions for the fabrication of macro-, micro-, nano-structured and multi-layer polymer devices. Frequently beginning with the redesign of the device of interest we enable industrialization for mass production of precision polymer parts at our ISO13485 certified plant. Product categories:
- Cartridges for clinical and Point-of-Care IVD
- Microfluidic devices
- Micro arrays and arrays substrates
- Laboratory ware
"We offer an unbeaten value chain. We provide innovative design solutions and reliable manufacturing for increased throughput, standardization, lower assay costs and integration of various functionalities, plus customer focused world-class logistics”, says Dr. Georg Bauer, SVP Product Development.
Industrialization starts with the right idea and the right design – usually co-developed by our customer and our interdisciplinary team of engineers.
We offer a smooth transition from device conception to mass manufacturing by fully understanding the initial system and assay requirements, as well as the essential cost drivers.
“Integrating different functions on one chip, e.g. molded filters or printed electrodes, is routine for us. Being able to anticipate and reduce the number of components and manufacturing steps at an early stage might sound trivial, but it can have a massive impact on yield, quality and final price”, says Ing. Gottfried Reiter, Principal Engineer.
Having translated the proof-of-concept into fully functional prototypes, these prototypes are used to optimize processes during pilot production – already considering the requirements of future mass-production.
“Frequently, we work with standardized formats e.g. CD format to keep the cost of prototyping as low as possible. For example we make a disc with all functional features mimicking the final production process. To maximize efficiency during the prototyping phase, we often obtain the final outer dimensions by micro milling the design from the disc”, says Dr. Werner Balika, Manager Core Processes.
Most mastering is kept in-house for rapid customer response and short turn-around time: our digital customizable mastering technology affords a lot of advantages and capabilities like Multi height features.
- Layer heights between 50 nm and 300µm
- Aspect ratios up to 12:1 and
- Small structure sizes down to 150 nm
“In our business precision mastering is an essential prerequisite. Thanks to our in-house service the best technology and short turnaround time is a true value add for our customers”, says Dr. Adrian Prinz, Development Engineer Mastering.
We provide development and production of smart plastic parts helping the customer to get the best performance and results from the instruments. The experience and knowledge of high volume disc manufacturing in the past is one of our pillars for mass production.
Our injection molding equipment is integrated with state-of-the-art robots that carefully handle molded parts, discard sprues and place finished parts on automated conveyors for laser marking, checking and packaging.
"Our integrated and flexible equipment enables us to offer proficient mass production of a customized product from quantities as low as hundreds up to millions of units”, says Rudolf Aichinger, Team Leader Molding.
Sputtering is a powerful process to manipulate and change surface properties of injection molded polymers like wetting behavior, chemical resistance, permeability and conductivity.
Our sputter coating has clear advantages over other coating techniques like
- Cost-effective manufacturing due to the option of in-line processing
- Product consistency due to a highly reliable process
- Being at the same time a “Green” process with no harmful emissions, no waste water pollution.
We claim to control the properties like wetting behavior, chemical resistance, permeability and conductivity with our Sputtering processes. Optimized over decades for the needs on molded polymer devices and for the special requirements of the in-vitro diagnostics, life sciences and medical industries”, says Ing. Hans-Peter Niederberger, Development Manager Array Projects.
Customized, cutting - edge, tailor made bonding tools enable us to fulfill our customers high end requirements regarding:
- Optical quality
- Pressure ressistance
- Geometrical tolerances
We offer a wide range of different bonding techniques for chip / chip bonding or chip / foil lamination like:
- Thermal Compression Bonding
- Solvent supported Low Temperature Polymer Bonding
- Laser Welding
- High Precision Bonding ( Alignment +/- 5µm )
- Pressure Sensitive Bonding (PSA)
“Together with our customers we develop unique processes for combining nano, micro and macrostructures. Our specialty is complete, fully automated bonding solutions with seamless in-line QC. We produce in a particle-disinfected environment and, if necessary, also provide appropriate quality assurance”, says Dario Borovic, Team Leader Bonding.
As part of our coatings portfolio, we offer coatings to provide amino- and epoxide-activated surfaces for subsequent spotting and DNA/protein binding. We achieve minimal variation in optical density across a plate with a standard deviation of less than 5 %.
In addition we offer many options for customized content filling or pre-loading of lab-on-a-chip consumables, e.g.:
- Liquids and solids, planar or localized on chip
- Variable volumes (pl to ml)
- Contactless dispensing/spotting
- Using diverse reagents (biological, chemical)
- Freeze drying of reagents
“We have set up a dedicated, environmentally controlled spotting facility suitable for the production of a diagnostic microfluidic chip based on the amplification of nucleic acids. These consumables are commercially available", says Veronika Lang, Team Leader Biologics.
For every customer’s specific needs, we can develop a made-to-measure assembly solution enabling semi-automated / fully automated assembly, full integration into the manufacturing process and automated in-line QC.
Primary competencies are e.g. the insertion of pins or gaskets, the integration of MEMS, electrodes, etc., mounting of chips into caddies and gluing. We also offer laser welding, sealing, the application of stickers and laser engraving.
“The list of services we offer is comprehensive and continually expanding to meet ever-growing customer requirements”, says Herbert Kahl, Head of Operations.
Individual and standard packaging.
In addition to standard packaging, such as cardboard, blister or box packaging, we have engineering resources to design the right packaging for any customized product. From manual packaging for low volume products up to fully automated packaging for high volume products, we offer individual solutions.
“Providing standard or customized solutions - single packaging as well as industrial bulk packs for all kinds of markets – is a key attribute for STRATEC Consumables”, says Slavko Glibo, Team Leader Packaging.
We believe a strong focus on quality, process excellence and reliability, together with an unwavering commitment to customer needs, creates the foundation for a best-in-class commercial service.
ISO 13485-certified and GMP-ready, we offer:
- High-speed inspection
- Functional check for final products
- Optical in-line quality check for each product
“We have installed and validated processes for 24/7 QC monitoring in order to meet customer agreed specifications. Furthermore, we consistently follow and analyze real time data and trends; this ensures a fast reaction time and potential failure prevention”, says DI Thomas Ehrenfeld, Quality Manager.
References
Standard Consumables
Anchor® Tip
Fully automated pipetting systems require high standards. In particular, precise tip pick-up is a crucial process step). STRATEC´s Anchor® Tips combine ultimate positioning accuracy with a consistent pick-up and release process, which ensures reliable pipetting.
Stackable Cuvette
STRATEC’s Stackable Cuvette addresses the challenges of sophisticated cuvette supply in fully automated systems. STRATEC’s solution offers reliability, low complexity and a compact design for both the feeding mechanism and packaging.
Dispense Cartridge
Liquid handling is a core process in literally every automated analyzer. Oftentimes, liquid handling systems use pumps or sophisticated pipetting systems to deliver reagents or other fluids to test sites.
STRATEC offers a unique solution, the Reagent Cartridge, which combines primary package and dispense system in one single unit. The Reagent Cartridge enables simple, reliable, robust and elegant non-contact liquid dispensing.
Reagent Cartridge
The most obvious and important function of a primary reagent package is to protect and preserve liquids from damage, external interference or contamination, spoiling and chemical imbalances and therefore, to seal the product from the environment.
STRATEC provides an innovative Reagent Cartridge, which is optimized to cover your needs on increased on-board stability of your reagents, flexibility and traceability.