Mission Critical Questions
What new medical device product designs could you complete through early engagement with a contract manufacturer?
How could your medical device produce designs be improved with more prototyping, testing, and implementation through a strategic partnership?
Do you have the capacity to check incoming orders to verify qualified product?
Does your current supplier have a global presence with identical test results that can provide stability for your company’s needs?
Our client, a leader in the medical device industry, needed a detachable MRI table docking system. Among the need to stay competitive, their healthcare clients needed help saving time during patient appointments, while addressing safety issues and abiding by FDA protocols. This new detachable MRI table docking system had to evolve and accommodate software and repeated matings, so the MRI system knew it was docked to a removeable table. Our client learned that Nortech had the expertise they did not and decided to rely on a strategic partner to help meet their project goals.
Design for Manufacturability
Engaging in lifecycle management with a contract manufacturer makes the entire process from initial ideation to fulfillment more efficient. This results in a better design, higher quality product, and faster speed to market for new technologies.
Other companies often struggle to adopt the early engagement process of medical device product design and manufacturing. Typically, this is because working with a new contract manufacturer can be seen as risky, causing uncertainty. This results in either slower product development cycles, or a lack of new products all together. Engaging the strategic partner’s engineering and design resources with a world-wide presence optimizes and adds value to the R&D process.
Our client realized that an early relationship with a manufacturer would improve the safety of their commercial product, speed to issue resolution, and client relationships. Because of this, our engineers started collaborating with them early on using our technology and resources to work on the tuning issues within their baluns. Our team provided quick-turn prototyping, on-site testing that saved time and money, and manufacturing of this technology once it was developed. This client learned in short order the value of early partnership with our integrated team of engineers. They transitioned to our prototypes and manufacturing resulting in valuable speed to issue resolution.
Results
Our client received the optimal design and met FDA safety standards needed to create commercial success with their product. This resulted in a significant reduction of unproductive time during patient appointments with the use of multiple detachable MRI table docking systems. Our clients were thrilled with daily progress updates from engineers, our data that proved FDA protocols are being implemented, and the smooth operation of the dockable MRI tables. The technology designed and developed has been successfully implemented into their healthcare client’s facilities.
