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1. Meet the Shortage of
Covid Testing Plastic
Consumables in Ghana
Benjamin Zanger, Alexander Meedt,
Christoph Kerpen and Paul Winter

2. Strong Team to face the Challenge
Benjamin Zanger
Team Leader
Alexander Meedt
Management
Christoph Kerpen
Designer
Paul Winter
Product Manager
Meet the Shortage of Covid Testing Plastic Consumables in Ghana | B. Zanger, A.Meedt, C. Kerpen and P. Winter 2
Diverse Knowledge
6 Bachelor Degrees in 4 Domains
Well-working Team
Know each other since > 3 years
High Commitment
Ambitious to reach our goals

3. Our Challenge is to meet the Shortage of Covid-19 Testing Plastic
Consumables in Ghana
Meet the Shortage of Covid Testing Plastic Consumables in Ghana | B. Zanger, A.Meedt, C. Kerpen and P. Winter 3
Production Requirements
Flexible
Local
Effortless
Product Requirements
RNA-Free
Ready-to-Use
Compatible
Plastic Consumables
Swab
Spin
Column
1.5 ml
Tube
0.2 ml
Tube
Pipette
Tips
Our Challenge
Meet the shortage of Covid-19 testing
plastic consumables in Ghana.
Ghana has no access to Covid-19 testing equipment.
Massive demand has lead to drastic price increases and global shortages.
Testing is essential to control the Pandemic
PCR Covid-19 tests are a key tool to disrupt infection chains.

4. Customer Requirements in Detail
Meet the Shortage of Covid Testing Plastic Consumables in Ghana | B. Zanger, A.Meedt, C. Kerpen and P. Winter 4
Production
If the plastic consumables are unavailable on the market, shortages should be covered with minimal lead time.
Production should be in Ghana in order to be not dependend on international markets and supply chains.
The production plant should be operable by a low amount of labor and should require only minimal training.
Product
The plastic consumables have to be sterile, as any contamination can lead to false test results.
One should be able to use the plastic consumables directly without any further effort.
The plastic consumables should suit to the used laboratory machines like pipettes and thermocyclers.
à Especially the requirement RNA-Free is very hard to achieve.
à Low Costs are not a major requirement but should be as low as possible.
Flexible
Local
Effortless
RNA-Free
Ready-to-Use
Compatible

5. Our Production Process consists out of four Steps
Meet the Shortage of Covid Testing Plastic Consumables in Ghana | B. Zanger, A.Meedt, C. Kerpen and P. Winter 5
3D Printer
Process: Printing of the CAD models of the plastic consumables.
Our Approach: We use the Photon S 3D printer from the company Anycubic.
Flexible Local Effortless
UV Cure
Process: Hardening the surface of the material.
Our Approach: We build a custom designed UV chamber in order to control temperature and exposure of UV light.
Packaging / Direct Usage
Process: Packaging the consumables into sterile bags in order to protect them from contamination.
Our Approach: We suggest producing within the laboratory in order to reduce the amount of packaging needed.
Isopropyl Bath
Process: Rinsing of the excess resin on the printed parts.
Our Approach: We use a special metal box to make this process step easier.

6. One Plastic Consumables Production Table consists of four 3D Printers,
one Isopropyl Bath and one UV Chamber
Meet the Shortage of Covid Testing Plastic Consumables in Ghana | B. Zanger, A.Meedt, C. Kerpen and P. Winter 6
à One plastic consumable production table includes four 3D printers, one isopropyl bath and one UV chamber.
à Swabs will be packaged in sterile pouches, while the other consumables can directly be used.
UV Chamber
Isopropyl Bath
3D Printer
140-700 min 30 min
4x 1x 1x
Duration: 30 min
Flexible Local Effortless
Packaging
Direct Usage

7. • xTh
We will use the Reagent Preparing Room for the Production
Meet the Shortage of Covid Testing Plastic Consumables in Ghana | B. Zanger, A.Meedt, C. Kerpen and P. Winter 7
Flexible Local Effortless
Reagent
Preparing
Sample
Preparing
PCR
Amplification
WHO PCR Laboratory Guidelines
According to the WHO, a PCR laboratory consists of
three different working areas with different functions
and characteristics. The flow of materials is directed
from the right to left to avoid contamination. The
reagent preparing area is under high pressure to remain
RNA-free.
Our Approach
For our production, we need a RNA-free environment,
which is given by the reagent preparing room.
Therefore, additional steps for sterialization of the
products are not needed. Due to the high pressure in
this room, there is a higher air circulation. This helps to
reduce the amount of fumes caused by the printers.

8. Our Product Prototypes
Meet the Shortage of Covid Testing Plastic Consumables in Ghana | B. Zanger, A.Meedt, C. Kerpen and P. Winter 8
RNA-Free Ready-to-Use Compatible
Swab
Spin Column
1.5 ml Tubes
0.2 ml Tubes
Pipette Tips
Used to take a sample from
the patient
Used to extract the RNA from
the virus
Used to store samples
Used to thermocycle the DNA
Used to transfer the samples
from one tube to another

9. Our Plastic Consumables Production Table can help to bridge Shortages
Meet the Shortage of Covid Testing Plastic Consumables in Ghana | B. Zanger, A.Meedt, C. Kerpen and P. Winter 9
# Component Total Costs
1 x Production Table 200€
4 x Anycubic Photon S 600€
1 x Isopropyl Bath 30€
1 x UV Cure Chamber 50€
1 x Packaging Machine 100€
SUM 980€
300 Test
(Goal of a
mobile Lab)
Costs Benefits
Variable Costs: 3D Printing Material
Production Capacity per Day
Fix Costs: Production Table
Potential Savings per Day with one Printer
à One fully equipped plastic consumables production table costs around 980€.
à The variable cost of our solution are a bit higher than market prices.
à Massive cost reductions are possible when buying the resin in large quantities.
à Shortages can be bridged with minimal lead time.
à If there is no urgent shortage our solution can save a lot of costs.
à Especially with swabs and 0.2ml tubes cost savings can be realized.
Detailed Data can be found in the Technical Description
Testkits

10. Availability as crucial Advantage of our Solution
Meet the Shortage of Covid Testing Plastic Consumables in Ghana | B. Zanger, A.Meedt, C. Kerpen and P. Winter 10
Our Solution
Local 3D Printing
3D Printing
e.g. EnvisionTec
Injection Moulding
e.g. ThermoFisher
Quality
Costs
Availability
à Availability as most important feature, which can only be ensured by our solution.
Competitors solutions have slightly better
quality as they have more expensive machines.
Nevertheless, our quality is good enough.
Due to the global shortage, Ghana has limited
access to competitor products. Our solution
can ensure permanent availability.
Other solutions have lower total costs as they
have more efficient processes and produce in
much higher volumes.

11. Our Solution fits perfectly for the situation in Ghana
Meet the Shortage of Covid Testing Plastic Consumables in Ghana | B. Zanger, A.Meedt, C. Kerpen and P. Winter 11
A plastic consumables production table consists of four 3D printers, one isopropyl bath and one UV
chamber and costs around 1000€.
With our ready-to-use CAD models 3D printing of all five plastic consumables is possible.
Our Solution fullfils all given requirements for Production and Products.
With one Production Table possible shortages of plastic consumables can be bridged with minimal lead
time.
à Our solution can be implemented in minimum amount of time in Ghana.
à Our solution fits perfectly for the situation in Ghana.

12. Our Technical Description contains further Information about our Project
Meet the Shortage of Covid Testing Plastic Consumables in Ghana | B. Zanger, A.Meedt, C. Kerpen and P. Winter 12
More information can be found in our
technical description.
https://github.com/benjione/TUMuchIdeas

13. Appendix: Our Production Setup and Prototypes
Meet the Shortage of Covid Testing Plastic Consumables in Ghana | B. Zanger, A.Meedt, C. Kerpen and P. Winter 13
Our Mini Lab Our UV Chamber
DLP Production Processs