Is Medtech Ready for an On-Demand Manufacturing Model?

Manufacturing has traditionally been a lengthy process from initial design to finished part. And given regulations, medical device manufacturing has been cast as a pretty conservative one. But industry’s use of stock component offerings and the rise of industrial-grade 3D printing could be propelling medtech toward an on-demand approach to manufacturing. Annie Cashman, global segment manager/business development-medical for Protolabs, an on-demand, quick-turn contract manufacturer, believes most of the medical industry is using an on-demand business model today in some fashion. “Look at companies like Qosina or any distributor that simply buys parts and keeps them in inventory for any engineer to procure and put into his or her design. The customer doesn’t have a minimum-order quantity, which is a version of on-demand manufacturing (ODM) that has been around for many years,” she told MD+DI. Today, advances in medtech prototyping are driving new manufacturing capabilities. When it comes to prototyping, Cashman said, “There are many changes, but the main one is the adoption of additive manufacturing in terms of materials and services offered. And additive manufacturing technologies are developing rapidly. For example, at Protolabs, we offer five different 3D printing processes. This technology has enabled medtech companies to prototype parts much faster and sometimes more cost ...
Source: MDDI - Category: Medical Devices Authors: Tags: Contract Manufacturing Source Type: news