RELY · Case Study · Documented assemblyNO. 22
PRODUCT LAUNCH AND CONTRACT ASSEMBLY · MEDICAL DIAGNOSTICS
Built by scientists. Turned into a process RELY could run.
A medical diagnostics developer relied on its scientists to assemble cartridges by hand. RELY documented the work in 18 visual assembly and inspection steps, joined the customer’s lab build eight weeks after the first process walk, and later assembled 300 cartridges at RELY.
- 8 wksFrom first process walk to joint build at the customer’s lab
- 1,100Cartridges from a 3-day joint buildCombined output with the customer’s team
- 18Documented assembly and inspection stepsWith 3 critical-to-quality gates
- 300Cartridges later assembled at RELYFall 2022
The know-how lived with the scientists. The next team needed a process it could follow.
The customer’s scientists developed the device and were building it themselves in 1,000-unit lab lots. Demand was arriving faster than the lab could build, and the details that made a good unit lived with the people who built them. RELY’s job was to turn that know-how into an assembly process another team could follow.
WHAT RELY OWNED
- Observe the buildsWorked alongside the builds at the customer’s lab and recorded every station.
- Document the assembly18 visual assembly and inspection steps, with correct and incorrect examples.
- Build in quality gatesThree inspection gates positioned where defects were easiest to introduce and hardest to catch downstream.
- Advise on tools and suppliesRecommended press assist, magnified lighting, count tools and supplies for scale.
- Join the buildRELY operators joined a 3-day joint build at the customer’s lab. Total output: 1,100 cartridges.
- Package to specControlled heat-seal packaging, each serialized cartridge matched to its bag.
FROM EXPERT KNOW-HOW
From the scientists’ bench to documented assembly.
- FEBRUARY 2022
Observe
First process walk at the customer’s lab. Every station recorded.
- MARCH TO APRIL 2022
Document
Assembly and inspection instructions drafted, then revised with the customer.
- APRIL 2022
Build together
RELY operators joined a 3-day joint build at the customer’s lab: 1,100 cartridges total.
- FALL 2022
Assemble at RELY
300 cartridges assembled at RELY. The work now ran outside the lab.
The 1,100 cartridges are combined output from the joint build with the customer’s team, not RELY-only production. The 300 cartridges were assembled at RELY.
From the scientists’ bench to assembly at RELY: 300 cartridges in fall 2022.
SOURCE: RELY PROJECT RECORDS, FEBRUARY THROUGH FALL 2022. CUSTOMER NAME AND PROCESS SPECIFICATIONS WITHHELD. HISTORICAL PROGRAM; PHOTO FROM THE 2022 PROGRAM. RESULTS REFLECT THIS PROGRAM ONLY AND ARE NOT A STANDARD LEAD-TIME OR CAPACITY COMMITMENT.
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