Evolving Medical Design Manufacturing Through Automated Machinery

Tomorrow’s medical device manufacturing industry will look moderately different than it does today, driven by the combined forces of gargantuan customer demands and ever-changing industry conditions. Exacting  precision, adaptability, regulatory compliance and hygienic sterility are unique factors that make medical devices all the more complex to manufacture. Here we look at the role of industrial automation solutions in medical device manufacturing, with multiple examples that manufacturers can use to position themselves towards the future.      

Unique Challenges in Medical Device Manufacturing 

The global medical device industry currently sits at approximately $495 billion as of 2022, projected to reach $719 billion by 2029, according to market research group Fortune Business Insights.  General inflation, an increasing aging population size, improving medical care access in developing countries, growing demand for wearable and retail medical devices, and the continued rise in chronic diseases are all factors motivating market growth at record rates. This rate of growth, as well as the accompanying technological advances in devices and the manufacturing systems that make them, presents a fairly complex near-future landscape to medical device manufacturers.

Over the next decade, medical device producers can be relatively sure that increasing volume, increasing part diversity and faster part version revisions will be the name of the game. Traditional manufacturing lines are typically built around fixed production rates and minimally changing part designs. As such, they face considerable pressure in adapting to the production needs of tomorrow. While all of this market-driven change is underway, manufacturers are also feeling supply-side constraints given today’s price volatility, tightening capital lending, limited material availability, precarious labor market and sink-or-swim levels of aggressive competition. All of these challenges combined appear to present both an ominous threat and a lucrative opportunity: Manufacturers need to increase their flexibility and productivity in order to hold relevance in the coming times of doing ever more with ever less. Otherwise, they may fall unrecoverably behind agile competitors.  

Switching Medical Device Manufacturing Into High Gear

While the long-range outlook of industrial manufacturing trends towards more automation, fewer human workers and more advanced technology needed to make even more advanced products, starting this journey is easier than ever.  Partnering with subject matter experts in their respective fields (such as AMS in medical device manufacturing automation, as outlined in this white paper) can provide manufacturers with a straight path to proven results.  

Evolving into a production business aligned with future demands requires manufacturers to adapt in areas of business operations, manufacturing and supply-chain processes.  Automated machinery will play a pivotal role in each of these areas. Below we highlight examples of each that will help you conceptualize a strategy for your business moving forward.  

Business Process Automation 

• Anywhere within the organization that human capital is insufficient (either by headcount or performance), automation can prove beneficial. Labor shortages especially are driving manufacturers to examine digital and mechanical automation today.  
• Enterprise resource planning software is an integrated automation approach to driving continuity across all business fronts, helping manufacturers allocate their resources and stay ahead of predictable upsets.  
• Managerial automation software tools can be found in many key decision centers such as human resources, hiring/onboarding, safety, accounting and business development/sales.    

Manufacturing Automation 

• Repetitive, manual work tasks can be replaced with automated machinery that can perform this work faster, longer and with fewer errors.
• Individual work tasks (such as heat staking, ultrasonic welding, material forming and leak testing) are all excellent medical device manufacturing sequences that can be automated into equipment stations, complete with automatic, archived regulatory and quality reporting and documentation.  
• Automated equipment can be automatically monitored over time, allowing for continuous process improvement tweaks to further increase efficiency.  

Supply Chain Automation 

• Automated material handling equipment can help improve order fulfillment.
• Software solutions can further automate both incoming and outgoing material movement, improving overall lead times.
• Advanced warehouse and logistics automation solutions can be used to optimize an entire supply chain from raw material through finished goods delivery.

All of the above automation approaches offer medical device manufacturers three key advantages towards staying competitive into the future:

• Increasing throughput volumes and yields, allowing manufacturers to comfortably grow output to match demand, while also increasing yields and efficiencies in terms of energy and raw material inputs.  
• Reducing material consumption, waste and rejects to drive a more sustainable outlook that considers raw material scarcities in tandem with eliminating environmentally harmful waste. 
• Improving flexibility to handle future demands, using equipment that can easily accommodate part manufacturing changes as material science, design engineering and treatment technologies evolve over time.  

Considering Automated Machinery? 

Where could automated machinery take your organization? Let’s discuss your options and complete an application review. Contact us today to schedule a time that works for you.