While the outlook for medical device manufacturers looks positive, unsustainable healthcare expenditures and new competition factors threaten to disrupt the future market environment. Manufacturers today risk being caught in the middle and becoming commoditized if they do not make their position in the shifting value chain. The days of merely creating a device and distributing it to healthcare practitioners are long gone. Preventative care has now become the desirable clinical outcome and intelligence is the new competitive advantage.
In this article, we talk about the key trends that we can look forward to in medical device manufacturing.
Manufacturer environment
Rapid changes in the medical device industry have also spurred the development of the contract manufacturing industry, as OEMs seek to decrease their manufacturing footprints and rely more on reliable partners for technical and production support. Budgets and schedules for research and development are under strain. To navigate increasingly competitive and (more global than ever) marketplaces, OEMs are looking for outsourcing partners. The supply chain’s constriction has also had an effect. Medical device outsourcing offers affordable solutions that boost operational efficiency while providing more small-scale producers access to goods they might not otherwise be able to buy or develop themselves.
We anticipate this trend to continue as businesses explore ways to increase productivity and reduce costs without compromising quality. There will be an increase in the demand for medical device outsourcing in the coming years. Gesco Healthcare is constantly investing in R&D and infrastructure that can specialize in upcoming technology and equipment to cater to our wide range of clients and their requirements.
More focus on minimally invasive devices
According to many studies, the global market for minimally invasive medical technology will be worth $50 billion by the end of this decade. The potential of this industry will last for a while due to the increase in catheter-based and laparoscopic operations as well as the general downsizing of technologies. It has become a particularly desirable market area to target for contract manufacturers, who are attempting to offer a full range of outsourcing capabilities. Gesco Healthcare identifies these trends and makes investments to meet the needs of the minimally invasive sector and offer our OEM clients a one-stop shop.
Supply chain optimisation
A growing number of issues are being faced by the medical equipment supply chain industry in the wake of the Covid/19 pandemic. The strain that the supply chain is currently dealing with could be higher than ever, from a lack of raw materials required to manufacture medical equipment to missing commodities that are crucial for the industry’s supply chain for medical devices. The supply chain itself is under stress as a result of the mounting difficulties.
Medical device contract manufacturers will also need to contribute, focusing on coming up with fresh, creative solutions to these issues. In the current climate, medical device manufacturers will give proactive supply chain solutions top priority. Better visibility and agility are needed for tasks like making preparations for significantly longer lead times, finding substitute parts, and even redesigning some device components to account for supply availability. In order to ensure the necessary supply to deliver essential healthcare equipment to the people whose lives depend on these items, it is imperative to be able to immediately identify which parts are most at danger and pivot where possible.
Increase in on-demand manufacturing to allow for customization
The aforementioned trends in the medical device business are incompatible with long-term manufacturing methods that are focused on mass production. The demand for low-volume manufacture is growing as medical devices become more specialized and custom-made to patients’ particular demands and anatomy. Since this operational model determines production capacity based on actual demand rather than projections, it is suitable for producing products that may be customized. As a result, inventory costs are reduced, more product customization is possible, and production is sped up. On-demand manufacturing enables producers of medical equipment to bring goods to market more quickly while maintaining regulatory compliance.
Our 60 years of legacy in the industry is a testament of how Gesco Healthcare’s patient-centric care models, innovation and additive manufacturing are combining to disrupt the medical device sector. Our business model, which combines industry expertise with quick, scalable multi-process on-demand manufacturing, is well suited to overcoming the obstacles that medical device manufacturers currently face. We want to help you get your product to market as quickly as possible so you can start transforming lives and provide better patient care.
