The medical device industry is in a unique position today. The industry has seen increased attention due to COVID-19 and the impacts of the pandemic, and the issues it presented for companies to meet the new demand. These circumstances have raised many questions about the state of the industry. Medical device companies that are leading the digital transformation to advanced manufacturing technologies moved to a remote work environment and barely slowed down as the pandemic raged. Those behind and still reliant on paper-based or disconnected processes have seen production slow, employees become less productive, and have been slower to introduce new products to the market. While other situations may have caused similar issues, none have gained more people’s attention than what transpired in 2020.

With this unique position comes opportunity – the opportunity to finally make a case for embracing advanced manufacturing technologies. Technology partners are eager to help the industry modernize and become an agile force in the future, capable of adapting to any unexpected disruption that may come along. It’s also an opportunity to improve product quality, reduce costs, speed up new product introduction, and not only meet regulatory standards, but exceed them.

All of this is possible. This paper will take you on a journey to advanced manufacturing and lay out the benefits, the roadblocks and how to navigate around them. With the attention and focus on the medical device industry, there has never been a better time than now. Regardless of where you are on the journey, there is a path to advanced manufacturing, and it starts here.

The white paper covers the following topics: 

• What is advanced manufacturing? 

• Medical device industry drivers 

• Advanced manufacturing enabling technology 

• Digital threads 

• Current adoption of advanced manufacturing techniques 

• Current state of the medical device industry 

• Survey results and analysis 

• The path forward