5 Trends in Medical Manufacturing
As the healthcare industry continues to advance technologically, the medical device manufacturing sector is growing alongside it in both scale and complexity. As such, there’s an abundance of opportunity for innovation in this field, with a broad range of professionals collaborating to create new apps and devices that are fuelling the ongoing wave of next-generation healthcare trends. The convergence of medical care and technology, now widely referred to as MedTech, has led not only to more convenient care for both patients and medical staff but also an increase in profitability and engagement within the manufacturing sector, which has been radically changed by the following five trends:
1. Bespoke Medical Device Development
It has never been easier for any kind of inventor or investor to get in touch with medical manufacturing companies and have a custom device made to their specifications. Historically, up until the past decade or so, the idea of anyone other than an industry insider having access to that kind of medical manufacturing leverage was simply unheard of. Now, you can have any kind of device – medical or non-medical – specifically designed, developed, and distributed to your liking, simply by communicating with the right manufacturers.
2. App-Based Project Management
Manufacturers, distributors, and device inventors are all following the ongoing trend of making device control interfaces available within mobile apps. Connecting medical devices to apps is a relatively new movement that has only picked up steam within the past five years. A decade from now, having a medical device that doesn’t connect to an app in some way will seem as archaic as a flip phone or pager does compared to the smartphones of today.
3. Major Mergers and Consolidations
Buyout and company sales happen a lot and they happen fast in the medical manufacturing industry, but that wasn’t always the case. Not too long ago, the industry was fairly centralized into a list of a couple of hundred major players. With the number of successful startups that are springing up, the market now has thousands of players within various leagues. To bring that analogy even further, the big league companies — which have been established for a while and have plenty of capital – are constantly buying up the small-to-medium-sized (SME) device development and manufacturing firms, creating the current trend of frequent mergers and acquisitions (M&As) within the sector.
4. Distributors are Selling Manufacturing Services
Instead of simply operating as hospital or clinic supply companies, many distributors have also started selling device manufacturing services in the role of affiliates. Essentially, they partner with manufacturers to find clients who may be interested in having bespoke devices developed.
5. Private Equity
Private equity firms have played a major role in getting the medical device manufacturing industry where it is today, as a significant percentage of the ventures and projects within this field have been funded or purchased by big private equity investment firms.
Leveling the Playing Field to Let Innovation Shine
In closing, all of the above trends add up to a notably positive change that’s happening inside healthcare, as the ability to innovate, invent, produce, and profit has been unleashed to anyone who is creative and sufficiently financed.
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Industrial Engineering Industrial Engineering As know-how evolves, so will the processes used to fabricate every part from shopper merchandise to subtle supplies. Industrial engineers use their knowledge and expertise to enhance systematic processes by way of using statistical analysis, interpersonal communication, design, planning, high quality control, operations administration, computer simulation, and problem fixing.