MODULAR PRODUCTION AND CUSTOMIZED PRODUCTS
Due to our experience in machine design, in 2019 we received a request from Sintef to become a partner in a European research project that aims to develop and test a complete value chain for "personalized fast-moving consumer goods". The aim is to facilitate the competitive production of tailor-made products, i.e. small batches, as well as the validation of prescriptions. The EU's investment in "Factories of the Future" enabled this project to receive support via the Horizon 2020 programme.
The best comparison to say something about what this project is about is the machines that mix the right color for you at the paint store. Initially, we will develop mini-factories that can produce detergents, but in the long term the aim is that mini-factories can produce personally adapted products in everything from baked goods to pharmaceuticals. We see great potential for this within the pharmaceutical industry, although the strict regulatory requirements naturally present additional challenges here.
The mini-factory, where the products are made, will be assembled from different production modules that add different properties to the product. Some modules may have heating as their task, while others may have to shake or stir the ingredients in a certain way. The entire mini-factory is built up so that modules can be added to the rest of the production facility without the existing components needing to be changed. Basically, this machine, with small changes, should be able to produce almost anything. If we want to make bread with it, we might make a kneading module, a rising module and a baking module, and thus we have created a baking machine.
BROAD EXPERIENCE
Since its inception, Cody has invested in special machines within a wide range of industries. We see that our varied competence and experience is the key to finding the optimal solutions in new projects, whether it is in the field of advanced assembly equipment for subsea products, aids or medical equipment. Alongside our main business in the development of production machinery and related equipment, Cody also undertakes assignments in product development. Here, too, the breadth is large with products such as green loose ammunition, sensor systems and the aforementioned aids. We have a constant eye on cost-effective production, and are constantly thinking that it should be possible to produce the products we develop in a good way. We can follow a project from the idea of a product, through the development process and all the way to automated production.