{"id":2883,"date":"2019-05-01T09:26:52","date_gmt":"2019-05-01T13:26:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ufluidix.com\/circlesecond\/?p=2883"},"modified":"2019-10-09T14:25:17","modified_gmt":"2019-10-09T18:25:17","slug":"fabrication-challenges-in-early-stage-startups","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ufluidix.com\/circle\/fabrication-challenges-in-early-stage-startups\/","title":{"rendered":"Fabrication Challenges in Early Stage Startups"},"content":{"rendered":"

When commercializing a microfluidic technology, you start with a contraption put together from wires, tubing, pumps, power supplies, and microscopes, and you turn it into an instrument other labs can buy from a catalog-like a plate reader. Part of this journey is a transformation of your fabrication techniques. Here we will talk about the fabrication challenges when commercializing a microfluidic technology in an early stage startup; we will not look into other aspects of product development. Furthermore, we will mostly discuss the fabrication of microfluidic components and not other components like printed circuit boards.<\/p>\n

\"Left:<\/a>

Left: Part of a microfluidic system in an academic lab, Right: A commercial prototype of the same system. (Image courtesy of CBio and Arizona State University)<\/p><\/div>\n

In the noncommercial lab, no matter how final your design is, you always deal with prototypes: Made in very small numbers, subject to changes at any time, and often not a polished product. During commercialization, there are prototypes and commercial products. Most of what we discuss will apply to both, but the commercial product is the end goal, and the bar is higher for it than for the prototype.<\/p>\n

A few new considerations pop up during commercialization:<\/p>\n

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  1. Requirements in production quality will be much more strict.<\/li>\n
  2. Production volumes will go up.<\/li>\n
  3. Cost restrictions will increase.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Quality:<\/h2>\n

    In academia, I have heard this comment more than once: \u201cOur fabrication is very reliable, we have about 90% success rate,\u201d meaning 10% of their production was off-spec, but this was still a success. I have worked with wafers (PDMS casting molds) with four copies of a design where one was damaged, but I used it. My yield was just 75% of what it could have been. This is passable in academia because people fabricate for their own use, and don\u2019t necessarily answer to an end user. Also, when only a few copies of a device are being fabricated, it may not be justified to fix all fabrication issues. With my wafer example above, if I anticipate a redesign, I wouldn\u2019t remake a wafer since additional PDMS castings would be quicker and cheaper than a new wafer.<\/p>\n

    Obviously, you cannot tell your customer, \u201cDon\u2019t use channels 3 and 7, they are bad.\u201d You also cannot afford to throw away 10% of your production run. The quality of the commercial product has to be the same as any other item you would buy for your lab commercially. Every device has to work, every time.<\/p>\n

    Volume:<\/h2>\n

    Startups are not in the business of inventing great tech. They are just in business. Success will now be measured by how many instruments are sold. Most instruments are expected to sell in the hundreds to thousands of units, and any disposable parts are expected to sell a similar number for each unit of instrument sold. Fabrication methods available to an academic lab \u2013or any research lab- are very inadequate. For example, making a batch of microfluidic chips<\/a> in a cleanroom takes half a day to two days, and yields at best ~20 chips. Your startup may have 3D printing or CNC machining capabilities, but they will likely be limited to small batches of prototypes.<\/p>\n

    Most startups will likely need to contract a manufacturing company for their fabrication needs very early on.<\/p>\n

    Cost:<\/h2>\n

    Money was scarce in the university lab, and it will be scarce in the startup. Money is always scarce, and the cost is always a big factor. In a startup, there is a new pressure that is seldom felt in academia. Being able to afford fabrication is no longer enough.\"cheap<\/a>\u00a0Your cost has to be low enough that you can add a large margin on it and still sell at an acceptable price. I have recently used photolithography and wet chemistry techniques to produce a batch of microfluidic chip prototypes. They cost $357 per chip (and two days for a batch of 12). These chips were part of a disposable cartridge, and to be sold at my company\u2019s target price, they needed to cost $1\u00a0or less! You may want to throw away money like this for your prototypes for testing your design, supplying your first customers, or other considerations.<\/p>\n

    Startups need fabrication methods that are more consistent, cheaper, and larger volume, which produce higher quality parts. That sounds unattainable, like the well-known triangle below, but industrial partners can make it happen.<\/p>\n

    Startups have two ways of having it all: Investors provide the financial muscle to contract the first large production runs, and sales to customers pay for subsequent ones.<\/p>\n

    What to do?<\/h2>\n

    If your startup is part of an accelerator or an incubator, chances are some fabrication facilities will be available. Many university incubators focusing on tech companies provide access to the university\u2019s cleanrooms at reduced rates. Others may have 3D printing or CNC cores, or even access to other fabrication technologies like roll-to-roll manufacturing. These facilities will be invaluable for prototypes, and not just for cost reasons. If your company has access to these, you have direct access to the staff, and your company\u2019s personnel can go and fabricate your devices. More importantly, your turnaround times will not be tied to the schedule of an outside company, which usually take several weeks to fulfill orders.<\/p>\n

    Sooner or even sooner, you will need to outsource your fabrication. The key factors in choosing a vendor are:<\/p>\n