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Connected Manufacturing | MedTech 4.0

In manufacturing, medical device, technology, Uncategorized by Trisha Armeña2 Comments

To this day, many Medical Device manufacturers are still operating on paper… Is your business one of them? We’re excited to share this exclusive e-book created for Seabrook Technology Group, one of our valued partners at the Virtual American Medical Device Summit! In this e-book, we examine the value of Connected Manufacturing for Medtech 4.0. Here’s a key excerpt from our interview with Seabrook: Welcome to Connected Manufacturing. Connected Manufacturing is not just a “product” or “service”, but a strategy that eliminates the shoehorning of new functionality into legacy systems. Additionally, connected manufacturing enables the “best of breed” approach that optimizes operations, enhances user experience, and maximizes value returned to the organization. We invite you to access the full e-book here.

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Ask the Expert: EU MDR

In interview, medical device, medtech, Q&A, regulations by Alicia CheungLeave a Comment

HCL hosted a Lunch & Learn Roundtable Discussion at the American Medical Device Summit 2018 last month in Chicago, IL. The session, “Ask the Expert – MDR and Lifecycle Management”, was led by Associate Vice President, Hilde Viroux. Hilde addressed questions surrounding the uncertainty of EUDAMED and UDI, the transition period, and how to obtain compliance. This is an excerpt from an interview Generis Group did with Hilde Viroux, AVP, Regulatory of HCL, America Inc. prior to the American Medical Device Summit 2018. “What are some of the biggest challenges in the new MDR that will impact device manufacturers? There are a lot of changes in the EU MDR that impact device manufacturers. Generating clinical data for all devices, developing the required reports and updating technical files to be compliant with Annex II and III is where most of the budget will typically go. In addition, there is the requirement to trace hazardous substances in devices and identify them on the label. The new regulation also requires manufacturers to set up a proactive approach to following the performance and safety of the device throughout its lifecycle.”

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Security-First Mindset Drives Both Performance and Profits

In manufacturing, medical device, medtech, risk management by Alicia CheungLeave a Comment

Designing with security in mind is proving to be essential for OEMs in the embedded space. But exactly what that means remains a moving target: What’s secure today is not necessarily secure tomorrow. In volatile industry environments where threats are non-stop, OEMs want to secure their devices and systems, but don’t necessarily understand how to maintain protection for the long term. A smart approach features design strategies and standards, but as importantly, is grounded in a security-driven mindset that embraces security implementations and deals proactively with different risks. This kind of vigilance can prevail in many ways: protecting systems, distinguishing OEMs, and driving new opportunities to create long-term profit centers from security services.

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Leveraging Artificial and Business Intelligence to Drive Productivity Improvements

In interview, medical device, medtech by Alicia CheungLeave a Comment

This is an excerpt from an interview Generis Group did with Jaime Velez, Co-founding Partner and Senior Consultant at Operations and Quality Systems Improvement Experts (OQSIE) prior to the 2018 American Medical Device Summit. “By combining AI and BI, companies can get the best of both worlds – speed and scale. They benefit from the massive data-processing capabilities and speed of computers (AI), combined with actionable, business-impacting information driven by analysis, exception identification and escalation protocols (BI). What is the number one reason to begin thinking about leveraging AI/BI? Speed is the biggest reason. Today’s businesses have massive amounts of information generated by more and more sources. In many ways, there is a human factory of people spending significant amounts of time accumulating, organizing and manipulating data. Instead of using data to drive rapid decisions, achieve business objectives and generate a profit – companies are spending time and resources to find relevant information buried in their data with often such a lag in time that the issues needing attention have happened without a timely response. This is where AI and BI can make a huge impact – by making large amounts of data actionable. A combination of AI/BI system assimilates and analyzes large data sets, but also allows for the right conclusions to be consistently made, at the speed of computing. It finds patterns in data, augmenting human analytics and automates escalating the exact piece of information, in the most appropriate …

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Reduce Supplier Risk, Reduce Organizational Risk

In compliance, medical device, medtech, quality, regulations by Alicia Cheung1 Comment

Risk is a major focus in most businesses today, regardless of industry. In the past few years, the Life Sciences have seen a steady rise in supply chain issues resulting in lost market caps, recalls, regulatory fines, and other financial impacts valued in the billions of dollars. The Medical Device Industry is no exception to this reality; if the industry wants to improve patient outcomes, then it has to manage risk. According to Pilgrim Quality Solutions, one of the largest sources of organizational risk is dependence on third-party suppliers. Today’s global economy has added complexity to supply chains, and longer supply chains are making it increasingly difficult to manage suppliers, and in many cases, suppliers’ suppliers, thereby increasing overall risk. The plethora of regulatory requirements placed on Medical Device organizations, including the updates to ISO 13485:2016, reflect this new reality.

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EQMS and Quality 4.0: Build a Successful Quality Strategy for a Life Science Company

In Life sciences, medical device, QMS, quality, Quality Management System by Alicia CheungLeave a Comment

Quality is a critical concern in life science manufacturing industries, and leaders across life science companies have many quality and compliance considerations. However, few of those concerns have the strategic impact that Quality 4.0 does. Quality 4.0 is the digitalization of quality management through the application of traditional and Industry 4.0 technologies to improve quality monitoring and outcomes. At its core, Quality 4.0 is the digital continuum of quality data combined with other data from sources such as manufacturing, machine sensors, supplier management, and in-service across a product’s life, new analytical insights derived from that data, and the organization-wide transparent consumption of insights.

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Why You Need a New Quality Management System

In medical device, medtech, QMS, quality, Quality Management System by Alicia CheungLeave a Comment

With technology rapidly changing, a global market, and competition around every corner, quality is one of the most important factors in manufacturing. Quality in products and process will ultimately keep any organization relevant in today’s marketplace. Additionally, having an efficient, paperless, and compliant QMS System can give an organization a competitive advantage.

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The Medical Internet of Things (MIoT)

In Internet of Things, IoT, medical device, medtech, wearables by Alicia CheungLeave a Comment

The Internet of Things (IoT) has emerged as something of a phenomenon in the last few years. The concept has become so popular that its impact is being felt across many industries. The healthcare industry is no exception. It is playing a leading role in this transformative process. Five years ago, the medical connectivity market was largely insignificant but has caught up rapidly. The market is expected to grow an astounding CAGR of 38% until 2020 by adopting the capabilities of the IoT. This intense growth is due to the increasing connectivity of medical devices and personal health tracking devices on the market, leading to an explosion in healthcare big data. Medical equipment, personal health and fitness trackers collect terabytes of data each day, most of which goes unutilized. In the future, the application of advanced analytics to healthcare ‘big data’ will have far-reaching implications on the industry overall, with the global healthcare analytics market expected to reach $20.8 billion by 2020.

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Leadership Strategies for Enabling Supplier Quality Management

In medical device, medtech, operational excellence, QMS, quality, value chain by Alicia CheungLeave a Comment

When it comes to quality management, life sciences organizations all face a similar set of challenges derived from both the significant industry competition necessitating improved quality performance and reduced costs, and from ever-tightening regulatory compliance measures. Quality leaders in life sciences need to contend with these pressures while also meeting goals around innovation, and improving efficiency across the product development lifecycle in an industry that is relying more and more on a growing global network of suppliers, contract manufacturers, and other partnerships. The growing network of suppliers in life sciences means that visibility into supplier quality and across the value chain are more important than ever before, as an adverse event could quickly lead to recalls, fines, and irreparable brand damage.

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Your Assets Are Talking; Are You Listening?

In Internet of Things, IoT, medical device, technology by Alicia CheungLeave a Comment

The data analytics revolution has the potential to transform the way companies organize, operate, develop talent, create value, and service their customers. The momentum is building in many companies, but only a few are reaping major rewards from their data. Companies are doing a great job connecting assets, equipment, and devices, as well as gathering all that information into distributed databases. However, the challenge lies in finding ways to listen to what the equipment is telling us and responding in useful, actionable, and intelligent ways that improve business operations and reduce costs. Effective listening enables companies to move away from reactive maintenance activities and move towards predictive maintenance activities. True success will come from breaking down the walls of silence between employees and the assets they are managing. Unfortunately, many asset management solutions gather and report data with little thought on how to support the change from reactive maintenance to predictive maintenance.

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