#3 Today’s Medical Development’s Best of 2021: Medtech’s path to digitalization

Adopting modern communications and computer technology in industrial settings can be difficult, especially for the highly regulated medtech industry that uses many legacy, customized systems.

Medtech manufacturers aim to maximize supply chain profitability and build high-quality products, with many using lean manufacturing techniques.

However, these traditional methods take immense time and effort to reach maturity. Actions follow a reactive, stop-and-fix approach. Machines, tools, and products in modern manufacturing plants are much more sophisticated than they were when lean methods were launched and, as process flows become increasingly complex, this linear approach is no longer sufficient. Manufacturers using only traditional lean manufacturing methods have reached a barrier that requires a new way forward.