Why was the medical device industry such a late adapter of outsourcing to reduce costs?
JL: The medical devices sector is highly sensitive to critical quality issues peculiar to the medical world – manufacturing transfer, ongoing supply, and integration with CAPA market feedback. It was slow to realise that appropriately managed, quality demands can be better met by people focused on operational competencies, rather than those in-house who, although more tightly controlled, may struggle more to maintain the required expertise. Part of the problem was contract manufacturers who were initially slow to take the initiative in offering integrated management services that create a measurable quality advantage. There was also a marked absence of adequate IT systems support for the required tighter integration. So has the medical device industry at last caught up with outsourcing? JL: There’s still a huge way to go. Some major OEMs are still just learning to ‘let go’ and still only outsource a small fraction of the potential. Generally speaking, the industry is just beginning to
