Medical Design Briefs - September 2023 - 13

Overcoming Blockers to
Digitizing Manufacturing
Operations
The ability for any company to keep pace with and advanced methods of patient care depends on how well it incorporates
these next-generation technologies into product development. (Credit: ProductionPerig/Dreamstime)
H
ealthcare facilities and providers are the benefi ciaries
of impressive advances in therapeutic technologies
that push the boundaries of what's possible in
patient care. Wearable devices have evolved from
tracking personal fi tness statistics to functioning as
a direct conduit from patients to providers for diagnostic, monitoring,
and treatment analysis. Artifi cial intelligence (AI) is
currently a major driver of imaging, diagnosis, and treatment
of oncology-, cardiac-, and diabetes-related conditions, among
many others.
Given the nature of these evolving treatment technologies, the
need for more data, computing power, and bandwidth is growing
exponentially. That said, the ecosystem for developing breakthrough
healthcare products calls for advanced manufacturing
technologies and strategies. Picture a manufacturing operation
with end-to-end digitization and a manufacturing execution system
(MES) on every product line and in every site. Then add the
full integration of all your other management systems, such as
enterprise resource planning (ERP), quality management system
(QMS), laboratory information management system (LIMS),
etc., providing complete visibility up and down the supply chain.
Using advanced data analytics within MES software equips
you with the necessary information to identify actual cycle times
Medical Design Briefs, September 2023
and exactly how long it takes to execute a device history record
(DHR), making the production schedule complete and more
accurate. With the easy retrieval of data from a single source,
you can also more easily determine how to change processes to
continually improve production and optimize lead times.
Incentives for Digitization
The ability for any company to keep pace with the evolving
life sciences industry and advanced methods of patient care depends
on how well it incorporates these next-generation technologies
into product development. However, it's surprising that
a large number of companies are still using manual, paper-based
processes in their manufacturing operations.
MasterControl recently conducted a study on the level of
digitization life sciences companies are deploying in their manufacturing
and quality management operations.1
The company
spoke with 152 life sciences manufacturing professionals
in medical device, pharmaceutical, biologics, and biotech.
The objective was to learn why companies in one of the most
innovative industries are still putting pen to paper and using
outmoded manufacturing management processes on their production
lines. Using a self-assessment and a multiphase digital
progression process called the Digital Manufacturing Maturity
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Medical Design Briefs - September 2023

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