Kajaani team increases production capacity of pipette tips during pandemic
While pharmaceutical companies around the globe are racing to develop treatments in the form of a vaccine or medication against the coronavirus, there is another important task for bringing the pandemic under control: diagnostic testing. In the procedure performed to confirm or determine the presence of SARS-CoV-2 lab instruments play a crucial role.
This article is posted on our Sartorius Blog.
At Sartorius’ most northern site in Kajaani, Finland, more than 120 people are responsible for the manufacturing of pipettes and single-use pipette tips. The team has excelled recently by not only keeping the supply of our customers running, but by increasing capacity during the COVID-19 crisis.
“Generally, our products are used in life science research and the biopharmaceutical industry to measure and transfer small volumes when preparing test samples,” explains product manager Paulus Artimo. “And because the accurate and repeatable sample preparation is essential for diagnostic testing and vaccine discovery, naturally, we have seen a strong increase of global need for pipettes, tips and laboratory automation using Sartorius rLINE pipetting modules in the course of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
To meet the rising demand the Kajaani team introduced several changes: “First of all, extra measures were taken to ensure the health and well-being of all employees,” Artimo points out. For example, all production lines switched to independent shifts with no overlaps, and guidance on hygiene and physical distancing were communicated. “Secondly, we’re in the final stretch to introduce a new manufacturing cell to increase our tip manufacturing capacity by 30 percent. And finally, we recruited new colleagues for tip manufacturing and pipette assembly lines to secure manufacturing and delivery capabilities.”
