Hospital Direct (Marketing) UK Ltd has been manufacturing in the UK for over 25 years. Based in Clun, Shropshire, they are a fast paced, rapidly growing organisation which is dedicated to helping people around the world to overcome some of the greatest challenges many of us may face. From providing personal independence to safe patient handling solutions, they provide customers with the tools needed to sustain an active and healthy lifestyle. Hospital Direct (Marketing) Ltd has been at the forefront of patient handling solutions, developing one of the largest self-manufactured ranges of moving and handling aids in the world.  

The company aimed to increase its productivity and decrease unit costs by using a control system to automate their processes of stitching sheets for patient handling using box-and-cross machines. These processes require significant human involvement and are therefore not very efficient. Hospital Direct (Marketing) Ltd approached the SOLVD team to support the development of a control system that can automate the stitching process with minimal human involvement and thus increase productivity.

As part of a free 12 hour consultancy, the SOLVD team recommended the implementation of:

• An AI based solution that is able to detect the position of webbing, fabric and the base of the clamp to enable real-time autonomous decision-making using video feed from a simple camera; thus, rendering the process of producing a patient handling sheet automatic with minimal human involvement.
• A Robotic Arm Integration:

An operator can initially place the fabric under the clamp and pull the webbing from the reel into place (under the clamp). Or alternatively, once the webbing is placed the fabric can be pulled into place using a programmable robotic arm. This can be used to initially place the corner under the sewing clamp above the webbing and then to pull it (along with the stitched webbing) after every stitch until the end of the fabric is reached. 

Robotic Arm in Action

The robotic arm (see above diagram) is significantly autonomous; from the alignment of fabric and webbing to detecting when the end of fabric is reached. It also significantly reduces not just human involvement but also the time required to produce the final product. The automation has potentially a significant return on investment in terms of costs and productivity. In the long run, as labour costs increase across the globe and the needs for speedy production increases, robotics and automation are vital for growth in the field of sewn goods.

The SOLVD project is continuing to support Hospital Direct (Marketing) Ltd through a longer term R&D collaboration to further implement the recommended automation system.

Phil Gutteridge, Managing Director at Hospital Direct (Marketing) Ltd commented:

Hospital Direct had a production bottleneck for a critically important product and was advised to contact the SOLVD unit at Wolverhampton University to investigate options for a possible solution.  This, I was more than happy to do as I had been part of the SCIT Faculty as an undergraduate myself.

Following investigative work and an assessment of the primary issues, the SOLVD Team presented a well thought out set of proposals for tackling the issues and as Project Leader for the Company, I was more than happy to accept the proposals as a way forward – a process that is now underway.

I would have no hesitation in recommending a talk to the team to any other business needing serious input from a highly capable group of people.

Experts from the SOLVD team at the University of Wolverhampton can help your business harness cutting-edge digital technologies to improve your business productivity.(*)

For more information or to discuss your specific requirements, visit www.wlv.ac.uk/SOLVD or contact SOLVD@wlv.ac.uk.

(*) Businesses operating in Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin can access 12 hours of fully funded support subject to eligibility. Please contact us for details.