Cable loom and harness manufacturer Convert Ltd has won an order to supply cable assemblies for two hundred slide scanners used to examine samples to help diagnose cancer.
The Kent-based electrical engineering company manufacturer the cable assemblies for FFEI – an award-winning manufacturer of digital inkjet and life science technology – which builds the scanners for a multinational healthcare company that’s a market leader in digital pathology scanning.
For each of the 200 machines on order, Convert will build 25 cable assemblies comprising a mixture of discrete, multicore and ribbon cables connected to LEDs, stepper motors and a variety of sensors.
Convert first got involved in the project in early 2017 with the manufacture of the prototypes before moving into small volume production later that year and eventually ramping up production in 2018.
Dave Lord, Convert’s Managing Director, said: “To be involved in this project from the start was great as we were able to work with FFEI and suggest changes to the designs of the assemblies which made them easier to manufacture. We had to learn some new assembly techniques and buy some new tooling, so we’re really thrilled with the success of this project!”
Andy Cook, CEO at FFEI, said: “We knew Convert could deliver having worked with them on legacy projects in the past. Dave and his team provided top-class design and development support for the cable assemblies which combined with our line-scan camera and tracking expertise has resulted in us being able to deliver a fantastic digital pathology scanner which provides market leading scanning performance with speed and image quality that is second to none.”