SITUATION

During the design and development of a new state-of-the-art sensor, a CMOS-based flexible endoscope, a world-class endoscope OEM encountered repeated development failures. After struggling for months, the manufacturer turned to ACCESS OPTICS to help it meet the new endoscope’s demanding imaging requirements.

SOLUTION

In the process of solving the problem, AO discovered the customer was not only unaware that its extreme surface quality specification was inadequate to accomplish what they needed; with AO’s help, they also found that parts being delivered to their extremely tight specifications were being downgraded during assembly. The combination of these two factors drove final production yields to nearly zero. Through ACCESS OPTICS’ experience and expertise in precision optics, assemblies, and endoscopy devices, we were able to determine the root cause of the issue: the OEM’s endoscope application required optical quality that was previously unattainable. What’s more, that optical quality had to be delivered directly at the final assembly level.

BENEFITS

The customer’s endoscope production line quickly returned to effective throughput levels, exceeding expectations. Partnering with the customer, AO authored and presented an on-site precision optics training course for the OEM’s manufacturing and technical employees and subsequently taught sessions at its facility. AO also developed proprietary flaw detection techniques to help the assembly line workers handle infinitesimally small parts without downgrading them while inspecting for defect levels of less than 2µ.