Medical Design Briefs - January 2024 - 5

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EXPERT Insight
Cost-Effective and Creative Ways to Lower Costs and Improve Efficiency
In this Expert Insight, Brett Dunn, Product Sales Manager at Hawk Ridge Systems, shares insights on how manufacturing companies can
find cost-effective and creative ways to lower costs, improve efficiency - and compete and win. Having worked with thousands of companies
over the years, Dunn explains what works and quite frankly, what doesn't. His priority at Hawk Ridge Systems is to lead the company in the
definition and delivery of services that help its clients grow.
MDB: What do you see as the biggest pain points for medical
device engineers?
Brett Dunn: Manufacturers all over the
world - whether they're in the medical
device field or not - are dealing with some
challenges, especially around time to market.
Medtech is a highly competitive space,
and there are hurdles and challenges that
get in the way of that number one kind of
KPI of just getting to market fast.
MDB: What are some examples or scenarios of specific projects
that could particularly benefit from external expertise
in order to achieve their goals whether it be lower cost or
improved efficiencies?
BD: While manufacturers typically have all design, simulation,
and data management tools, they don't have is optimization
and integration in a lot of cases. One process starts and then
stops, and then another process starts and stops. And those
are the things that really fundamentally are getting in the way
of those primary targets - which is getting to market as fast as
possible and continuing to lead with innovation. We need time to
innovate. Everything that takes away time takes away from innovation.
And again, this is a really important part of the medical
device community.
MDB: When engineers do need to reach out from their own
teams, what is the best way for them to engage with services
such as those at Hawk Ridge Systems so that they can get
the most out of the partnership and get to those goals?
BD: Sometimes what gets in the way of us helping more is quite
frankly a lot of times companies view us as a resource to come
to when they have very specific questions about technology that
they're using. But maybe less so do they look through the lens
of partnership - a thinking partner and a planning partner. And
that's what we hope to change. If you're one of these companies
that's really just trying to optimize your systems and processes
and shorten that time to market, raise your hand. We really want
to understand what your current state is and figure out if we can
help. And if so, how.
MDB: How do you see the future of engineering evolving? And
maybe in particular, how will Hawk Ridge develop its expertise
to address those changes?
BD: Since the pandemic, companies have had to make a lot of
changes. A lot of the workforce is now remote. There's new technology
like AI, for example, that companies are scratching their
heads and saying, " What do we do with this? " Some of these
Medical Design Briefs, January 2024
technologies are becoming more common. But fundamentally
the main thing for the medical device community is really to get
these systems dialed in. It's no longer a competitive advantage
that you have SolidWorks as your CAD system. That's a competitive
necessity today. It's no longer a competitive advantage
to have invested in PDM, PLM, ERP, MRP - everybody needs all
of these systems. What does give you the competitive edge is
optimizing those systems and integrating those systems to the
furthest degree possible. And that's where we can help. We're
looking at ways to continue to help our clients take those systems
that are in place already and get them connected in a way that
allows them then to get more out of every day. Companies are
learning that we've got to leverage technology more, we've got
to lean into that, trust it.
MDB: What qualities or experience do service providers need
in order to help their clients compete and win?
BD: There's a lot of good technology out there today. The difference
between success and failure when it comes to making
investments in technology comes down to one thing. It's adoption.
A company make a giant investment in great technology
but unless you have an equally good plan for the adoption.
Implementing and configuring a system is one step and that's a
must. It doesn't work without it. Don't spend all that money unless
you are committed to the adoption, or you won't get the ROI.
Just make sure that you're planning for and testing the adoption
- not just testing that the features work, but also testing that
the people know how to make the features work in the system.
Without that, we likely won't get the ROI that you need, you won't
get the efficiencies that are expected, and you'll be no better off
than you were before.
Watch the full interview with Brett Dunn.
www.medicaldesignbriefs.com
5

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Medical Design Briefs - January 2024

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