Bluechiip to Receive $790k Supply Chain Resilience Grant
Melbourne, Dec 2, 2022 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Bluechiip Limited (
ASX:BCT) (1BL:FRA), a leader in the development of advanced sample management solutions for harsh environments, today announced it will receive a $787,810 grant via the federal government's Supply Chain Resilience Initiative program.
Bluechiip's grant application titled 'Automated Semiconductor Micro-Electro-Mechanical-Systems (MEMS) Device Singulation and Packaging', covers the preparation of chips from the company's silicon wafers onto antennas. These are then manufactured into Bluechiip Enabled consumables.
Bluechiip is one of 18 successful applicants offered funding under the Australia-wide program.
The project involves setting up a highly specialised micro-electronics fabrication processing line utilising state of-the-art semiconductor fab processing equipment which will cost $1.58 million over two years.
The grant will therefore cover half the project's cost.
Andrew McLellan, Managing Director of Bluechiip Limited, said the grant was both welcome from a funding point of view, and a vindication of the cutting-edge research the company had undertaken in the tracking space.
'This is a great development for Bluechiip especially as we continue to gain traction in our target markets.' Mr McLellan said. 'Under the grant we will set up a local production line that firstly separates and then packages the Bluechiip MEMS devices,' he said.
The project is expected to achieve a number of key benefits:
- reduce reliance on foreign supply-chain manufacturers;
- improve control over production scalability and reduce overall time to market;
- reduce costs through savings in shipping and subsequent production scaling; and
- build local skills in advanced micro-electronic fabrication further protecting and enhancing our valuable unique Bluechiip technology.
'Bluechiip will receive improved margins on some of its more complex products. We will become more agile and flexible, with improved in-house capability including for our project with FujiFilm Irvine Scientific in the global IVF market. In addition, it will enable further expansion of our applications, and expand our opportunities, especially in our target life science market globally. Finally, it will bring a unique capability to Australia.'
About Bluechiip Limited
Bluechiip Ltd (ASX:BCT) understands that every sample - stem cells, blood, eggs, sperm and other biospecimens - is critical, so our objective is to manage each one with optimal quality in the most efficient way. Bluechiip's advanced management solution is the only one that provides sample temperature with ID in cryogenic environments to. Most importantly, this delivers confidence in every sample.
Bluechiip's unique patented technology is a MEMS-based wireless tracking solution that contains no electronics. It represents a generational change from current tracking methods such as labels (hand-written and pre-printed), barcodes (linear and 2D), and Radio Frequency Identification. Bluechiip tags are either embedded or manufactured into storage products such as vials or bags. Each product can be easily identified, and critical information such as sample temperature, is detected by readers and stored in the Bluechiip software. In addition to functioning in extreme temperatures, the Bluechiip(R) Advanced Sample management solution can survive autoclaving, gamma irradiation sterilization, humidification, centrifuging, cryogenic storage and frosting.
Bluechiip's technology has applications in healthcare, including in cryogenic storage facilities (biobanks and biorepositories), pathology, clinical trials and forensics. Other key markets include cold-chain logistics/supply chain, security/defence, industrial/manufacturing and aerospace/aviation.
Bluechiip: Delivering confidence in every sample.
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