The Art of Creation

With the launch of our new histological cassette collection, the SuperFLO™, I take this opportunity to explain the development process involved. 

At Simport, we rely heavily on the inventiveness of our founder. In Quebec, we have a reputation for being very creative. Mr. Lafond, inspired by a basic concept, seeks to improve either the quality of the reagent flow, the ease of manipulation for operators, or the quality of the printing for sample identification. Sample identification has become critical with the explosion of traceability requirements mandated by regulatory authorities.

Our R&D department designs the product based on the mandate given to them. They ensure that the concept meets the security requirements of openness and printing quality. Injection molds, the manufacturing method used, are ordered once the concept is approved. The newly molded product then runs a battery of tests. A timely process during which the mold is adjusted until the product meets the identified requirements. Finally, to validate normal production conditions, a 24 hours production is launched. Only once samples remain within the tolerances does production begin. Finally, boxes of each of the 11 offered colors are produced for inventory.

To make histological cassettes, we still rely on acetal (or POM Polyoxymethylene) as a mold resin. This resin is resistant to the chemicals used in histology and has excellent mechanical resistance and the necessary flexibility for their critical safe closure. It is also a material that is dense enough not to float and stay at the bottom of reagent containers.

Once this process is complete, production as such begins. Production speeds depend on several parameters varying for each cassette model. Indeed each model has its own cycle time, and molds differ in their number of cavities. Our newest eight-cavity mold has an injection cycling time that varies between 10 and 15 seconds. As a result, producing 1 million cassettes takes 15 to 20 days over three shifts. Our strict quality control requires that, for each production, we validate the dimensions, the quality of the closure, and the printing quality with its specific cassette printer.

This complex process takes time and energy. Typically, from the time the idea germinated in our president’s head to launching a new product, 18 to 24 months will have passed. But it is worth all these efforts to finally put in your hands the right product that will serve an essential diagnosis, an excellent histological cassette!

Learn all about our NEW SuperFLO™ Collection here.