Pharmapack/BIOMEDevice: Introducing Mikron Automation

Pharmapack/BIOMEDevice got off to a rousing start today in the Grande halle de la Villette in Paris. The aisles were seriously jammed. Getting from one end of the building to the other required some precision slaloming. As I was weaving my way down one of the aisles in the early afternoon, I bumped into Jean-François Bauer of Mikron. “I have some news for you,” he said as he pulled out a chair for me.

Mikron Assembly Technology, he informed me, was now going by the name Mikron Automation, which groups Mikron S.A. Boudry in Switzerland, Mikron Corp. in the United States, Mikron Singapore and Mikron Shanghai.

“There are two primary reasons for the name change: we are expanding our range of products and, in a sense, enlarging our global footprint,” explains Bauer. The company acquired Singapore’s Integral Systems in 2007, which had been operating in parallel with the group’s other automation facilities until now. By bringing all of the facilities under the Mikron Automation umbrella, the company highlights its considerable global reach. Bauer is more tight-lipped when it comes to the expanded product portfolio.

“We have developed a new automation system called the EcoLine, which will have its European launch at Automatica in June,” says Bauer. The system had a prelaunch at Motek Germany, but it will have its official coming out at the biannual automation show in Munich.

The EcoLine achieves a cycle time of 3 seconds—assembling between 20 and 30 parts per minute—so it is clearly for low volume applications. By contrast, the company’s signature G05 system handles up to 100 parts per minute. But Bauer will say no more. If you want to get more info on the EcoLine, plan on attending Automatica.

And in the meantime, if you can make it to Paris, you still have one more day to join the throngs at Pharmapack/Biomedevice.

Tags: Automation, BIOMEDevice, Mikron, Pharmapack