High-Speed Test Strip Bottling: 1,200 strips/min with ClearPath Integrated Servos

“We index the material to high accuracy and then we cut it at a high speed. We’re doing 1,200 strips a minute, which is very quick,” says Andrew Zucaro, President of AZCO Corp. “All things considered, that's a very high throughput. That's higher than we've done in the past.”

AZCO Corp., a manufacturer specializing in precision equipment for feeding and cutting flexible materials, recently developed a new automated solution for the medical industry. The machine handles a complex sequence: feeding and cutting diagnostic test strips, inserting a desiccant pouch, and placing the strips into vials. To achieve the required speed and precision, AZCO utilized 21 Teknic ClearPath integrated servos across critical axes, including indexing, cutting, conveying, and desiccant dispensing.

One of the most significant engineering decisions on this line involved the knife assembly. While previous iterations or similar applications might rely on pneumatic cylinders for the cutting action, Andrew decided to upgrade the axis using Teknic servo systems.

The decision was driven by long-term operational efficiency. “Instead of pneumatics, we put a servo motor on it... [for] speed, reliability, and lower cost,” Andrew explains. He notes that while the initial hardware investment for a servo is higher than that of an air cylinder, the total cost of ownership tells a different story. “Even though the motor is more than a cylinder, over the life of the machine, it's significantly less cost.” By eliminating the ongoing energy consumption of air compressors, the servo solution provided a more economical and reliable operation for the end-user.

Beyond performance, the physical footprint of the motion control components played a role in the machine's design. The test strip line is a high-density application requiring over 20 axes of motion. ClearPath’s integrated design, which combines the motor, encoder, and drive electronics into a single package, simplified the build.

“The driver [is] built into it... it's just compact,” says Andrew, highlighting the space-saving benefits of the all-in-one architecture.

Furthermore, as a US-based machine builder, AZCO prioritizes supply chain partners that align with its domestic manufacturing philosophy. The company moved away from previous Asian motor suppliers in favor of Teknic’s New York-based manufacturing. “It's a very good product. It’s made in America,” Andrew states. “We're an American manufacturer. We're trying in every way we can to buy American-made products.”

The transition to ClearPath servos has resulted in a machine that meets the rigorous demands of medical device manufacturing. The system maintains indexing accuracy of ±0.005" while handling the rapid throughput required by the client. Reflecting on the partnership, Andrew emphasizes the reliability of the components and the transparency of the vendor relationship.

“You guys do what you say and you say what you do,” says Andrew. “It's a really good product at a fair price.”