Plastics Help Food Allergen Sufferers

The UK subsidiary of a major US diagnostics equipment company, Tepnel BioSystems Ltd of Deeside approached the Hereford-based A K Industries (AKI), to take a fresh look at its hand-held testing kits for food allergens such as almond, casein, gluten, hazelnut, peanut and shellfish.

The original design, a four-piece unit in white polypropylene, was costly and time-consuming to assemble and caused difficulties for the user as well as manufacturing problems.

AKI thoroughly analysed the product, starting from the concept / design stage with its Solidworks 3D solid modelling system. Applying value engineering principles and its “knowledge bank” of problem-solving experience from design to production, AKI was able to convert Tepnel’s product to a single-piece unit that could be made in a range of colours. That allows Tepnel to use the same design of testing kit in different masterbatch colours for detecting different allergens.

The material used for the case of the Tepnel biotester is polypropylene. This enables the integration of a “living” hinge and snap-fit features, with the benefit of a product that is quick and easy to assemble at AKI, achieving a saving of up to 70% in assembly time. Additionally the new testing kit has made its ordering and inventory management far simpler, whilst significantly reducing costs and increasing sales. It has made life a lot easier for the company in this area as well as for the food allergen sufferers.

 New allegen testers

For further information contact: Allen Green, Managing Director, A K Industries Ltd, Tel: +44 (0)1432 375 100, email: [email protected], Web: www.aki.co.uk