Morrison Container Handling Solutions Manufactures 16 Integrated Systems Doing Their Part to Help Supply COVID-19 Test Kits Worldwide

Systems Allow Millions of Test Kits to Be Manufactured Daily Upon Project Completion, Increasing Production by 20,000%

Morrison Container Handling Solutions has partnered with one of the world’s leading scientific and pharmaceutical manufacturers, Thermo Fisher Scientific, to produce 16 fully integrated systems to increase production of COVID-19 test kits. These United States government contracted systems will aid in filling the demand for COVID-19 tests worldwide. 

Each system has been engineered by Morrison’s Head of Engineering Ryan Finke to move the test kit through a variety of packaging applications. Taking the tube through unscrambling, filling, capping, and presenting for final packaging, this system can produce 120 tubes a minute, improving the originally time-consuming hand-fill production drastically.  

Previously, Thermo Fisher had only 4 lines, producing kits anywhere from 30 to 55 CPM. Each Morrison machine can produce 130,000 test kits a day. With all 16 systems in full operation, production capacity is 2,080,000 million kits each day. 

“Manufacturers were all called to rise to the challenge of our nation’s supply chain issues, but it’s not every day we have an opportunity to make this large of an impact,” says Nancy Wilson, Morrison Container Handling Solutions CEO. “I’m incredibly proud of our team, who has been working long hours 7 days a week with one thing in mind, helping our neighbors and their families fight COVID-19. Typically, such a timeline would only yield one machine, but we are making 16 happen. I’m also grateful for our customers who understood production on their systems had to be delayed a few weeks in order to support this national urgent need – everyone understands we are all in this together.”   

With all 16 systems in operation by the end of August, each week millions of COVID-19 tests will be entering the healthcare system in the United States, Scotland, and Germany. This engineering and manufacturing needs were presented to Morrison in March, allowing the manufacturer to exercise their custom container handling solution expertise and bring a years-long engineering feat to market in just under six months. 

“We helped Thermo Fisher go from P.O. to design to production and shipment of 16 fully integrated packaging machines in just under six months in order to help our world get the vital tests we need to keep our communities safe,” says Chris Wilson, Morrison Container Handling Solutions Vice President of Operations. “When presented with this opportunity, it was a no-brainer for us to quickly rearrange our entire operation to do what we do best: move containers expertly, quickly, and precisely for a variety of applications. Our team has worked 7 days a week to make it possible, even shipping three systems in one week.” 

Dustin Lee, Morrison’s Director of Sales, called Finke late one night in early March with the engineering challenge. Within hours, Finke had a prototype designed and ready to present to the customer the next morning, providing the confidence that Morrison could provide a high quality and effective design for the project.  

“We provide solutions – it’s as easy as that,” Lee said. “Our sales and engineering teams work together to address the specific problems our customers have with handling their containers for just about any application in the packaging industry, and when people come to us, they expect that level of expertise and high-quality engineering. When we say we’ll work in the middle of the night to solve your problems, we’re not kidding. We take it seriously, especially in times like these.” 

Morrison operates under the belief that they operate to solve the container handling problems that keep their customers up at night. When this pharmaceutical company was tasked with the challenge of how to get their test tube into the world faster, Morrison knew it was a challenge built for them. 

“Our entire team has been dedicated to this project, working seven days a week to support it because we know the impact it will make,” says Finke. “Engineering a development project like this would typically take months of design reviews and troubleshooting before producing multiple machines. Instead, we are leveraging our over 49 years of container handling experience and infusing the most up-to-date technology to link the customer/engineering/production to do everything in real time in order to quickly adapt and still move the test tubes through timing screws up to Morrison’s high standards of quality control.” 

After placing an original order for one machine, Thermo Fisher upped the order to four, and finally a total of 16 systems, increasing the scope of the project quickly when they realized the output impact on their production line that just couldn’t happen otherwise. 

Providing mechanical and electrical controls integration has made this an around the clock project, with Morrison renting additional manufacturing space in order to accommodate an assembly line structure to build as many machines as possible at once.  

“We always talk about Support Built In at Morrison as our guideline to provide the best partnerships for our customers in the packaging industry, but in all honestly, it’s so much more,” Nancy Wilson said. “When my husband Nick started the company in 1971, it became our internal and external promise. Not only do we provide the best support to our customers, but we need to provide the best support to our community and make a difference where we have. A project like this is simply our corporate responsibility, and Nick’s vision for the company.” 

The leadership at the company has been humbled to see their talented team grow together throughout this opportunity. Being able to bring timing screw and container handling expertise to such an impactful project shows Morrison’s wide range of capabilities to help customers unite impactful solutions to their container handling problems. 

“Nearly 50 years ago we set out to advance technical expertise and creative problem solving in the packaging industry, and our project with Thermo Fisher for COVID-19 is the epitome of this mission,” President Nick Wilson says. “We continue to challenge our engineers and production team to bring innovative designs to unique challenges such as this one, and like always, they delivered in a way that can truly help our community.” 

Morrison Container Handling Solutions is currently working another batch of 14 systems for Thermo Fisher Scientific in Scotland, England, and the United States.

ABOUT MORRISON CONTAINER HANDLING SOLUTIONS: 

Founded in 1971 by President Nick Wilson, Morrison Container Handling Solutions is well known in the packaging industry for developing customer focused, simple and innovative solutions for container handling needs. The company was started by Wilson to provide superior bottle handling parts and timing screws and has now grown to be recognized as the source for innovative container-focused handling solutions, even for the most difficult rigid or semi rigid containers. Since its inception, Morrison has provided solutions for companies within the United States and internationally.  Morrison is well known industry-wide for attentive service to a wide variety of customers’ container handling needs – always with Support Built In, the company’s promise to deliver quality products and support them 24/7, from initial concept to years after installation. 

Continuing the legacy Nick’s son, Chris Wilson, has been with Morrison for more than 30 years and is now Vice President of Operations.  In 2011, Nick convinced his wife, Nancy Wilson, to bring her 25 years of Ford Motor Company corporate marketing and leadership experience to the team. In 2013, Nancy became owner and CEO of Morrison and oversees daily operations.  

At Morrison Container Handling Solutions, we believe in every human’s right to be treated with respect and equality, and the right to live without fear.