Contract manufacturing services
Forsite is dedicated to the contract manufacture of lateral flow diagnostics for customers across a wide range of industry sectors. We offer part-processing or full manufacture of housed or dipstick rapid assays in our state-of-the-art automated production facilities.
We are fully equipped carry out all stages of production from feasibility studies on LFDs, up to full-scale manufacture. Not all projects require all operations, and we can carry out individual tasks such as reagent spraying or final assembly using materials provided by customers.
We are experienced in working with latex and colloidal gold, and with many different types of membranes. Performance of tests is monitored routinely using our LFD Reader, giving you objective assessment of quality throughout development.
Problem solving through automated LFD manufacture
Technology transfer
This is a vital part of the early stages in a project during which we take your reagents and components and adapt where necessary to suit the manufacturing process. Too often, LFDs are designed without proper attention to large scale manufacture, leading to delays and re-optimisation just when the momentum is building. Planned and rigorous technical evaluation and adaptation will avoid hold-ups.
Our technical specialists use reagents, membranes and other consumables from leading suppliers only to make sure the quality of your product is protected.
Reagent dispensing
As products move through the technology transfer and validation stages, the next major step is the spraying of reagents onto membranes. All our spraying is carried out on a Biodot RR4500 reel to reel web handling system, housed in its own dedicated environmentally-controlled room.
We use non-contact jets for dispensing reagents.
Lamination
Once sprayed, the membranes then pass into the dry environment of our assembly and packaging rooms. Membranes and other components of the tests are assembled using a Biodot LM6000 auto-laminator, producing cards ready for transfer to the Kinematic auto-assembler.
Auto-assembly
What separates Forsite from other contract manufacturers is our ability to assemble housed devices using our Kinematic Matrix 2380 auto-assembler. This bespoke piece of equipment can produce thousands of tests each day, all conforming to the highest standards of quality and consistency. The advantages of automated assembly for product quality are widely recognised in terms of reduced QC failures and more importantly, improved end-user performance.
Because we have housings produced specially for us to our design, we can add your logo to the test housing as a permanent embossing to the plastic.
If your test is not suitable for the housing we use in the auto-assembler, we can offer a hand-assembly service if required.
Packaging
Our chosen method of foiling LFDs is using the Siebler-Göring 5400/90 foil packer. We use a four-sided seal pack on individual LFDs for consistent performance and long shelf life. This type of seal is recognised as being superior to other foil packs. We will pack your products into the final packaging or other containers you specify.
Additional services
Forsite's can provide additional, related services to our OEM customers. These include:
Product storage, despatch and logistics
Order processing
Liquid dispensing and bottling
Product packing
Packaging design
If you are new to diagnostics, we can guide you through some of the challenges you will inevitably face. We hve been there before, and we are always pleased to share or experiences to help get products to market as effectively as possible.
If you would like more informationon any of our services, please email or call us on +44 (0)1904 462 660.