Sector
Background
Abcam is a Cambridge based company dedicated to supplying the largest online catalogue of antibodies in the world.
Abcam supplies antibodies to research laboratories around the world. They needed to optimise the efficiency of transporting these antibodies to their global customers. Abcam originally transported their antibodies in vials housed in plastic containers. To prevent damage to the antibodies the plastic containers were shipped in an expandable polystyrene box with dry ice flakes to control the temperature.
The Challenge
Abcam commissioned eg technology’s design team to find an effective solution to optimise packaging efficiency. In addition to this, they wanted to create an “appeal aspect” to the product to make customers want to keep and reuse it. There was also a requirement to minimise the quantity of dry ice flakes required for shipping.
RE-DESIGN THE PACKING EQUIPMENT USED TO SHIP VIALS OF ANTIBODIES | REDUCE OVERALL SIZE OF PACKAGING | ADD FUNCTIONALITY TO MAKE THE CONTAINERS USEFUL AND REUSABLE
Our Approach
Our Mechanical Engineering and Industrial Design team employed a cross-discipline approach for this project, whilst working collaboratively with Abcam. We investigated the transportation requirements for the package and, using thermal modelling, were able to optimise packaging construction, reducing the amount of dry ice flakes required for shipping. This immediately reduced the environmental impact, reduced transportation costs and minimised the risk of warming. The brightly coloured and branded building blocks improved product presentation to the customer and had the added advantage of being reusable and stackable. A variety of concepts for the containers were developed which were reviewed over the course of the project. High quality renderings were produced for the three favourite concepts before one was taken forward to detail design and transfer to manufacture.
Our Results
The ‘Lab Bricks’ design ticked all of the boxes for Abcam, being not just functional but fun, collectable and genuinely useful. Capable of housing multiple vials of different sizes, these multicoloured building blocks can be stacked and clipped together for use as vial holders around the lab.
eg technology are ISO 13485 accredited. We put rigorous quality management at the centre of everything we do, providing our clients with the compliance to standards for safety, quality, risk management and traceability.
Are you ready to develop your product or idea?
For further information on how eg technology can support in getting your technology or ideas to market or to chat with one of the eg team about your product design and development requirements, please get in touch.
