Featured Resources
10 critical errors in the manufacture of MEMS-enabled medical devices
Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) sensors are the backbone of connected (IoT) medical devices. Their mechanical workings detect physical stimuli such as motion, light, or sound, which is interpreted by the system’s software.
Labor Pains
Less than a year into the pandemic, the healthcare industry had lost nearly a third of its workers (18% quit, another 12% were laid off)
When We Ran Out Of Everything
Finished products only emerge from supply chains because other things go in. A single discontinued component causes bottlenecks and a ripple of delays
5 Questions Every Manufacturer Should Ask
It turns out that your perfect design is not so perfect after all. Frail microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) are damaged during assembly, rendering them ineffectual. Or end users give it terrible reviews because it’s too bulky, difficult to operate, or requires recharging every couple of hours
No Surprises: Adhere to These Best Practices To Ensure Your Contract Manufacturer Can Uncover and Resolve Disruptive Issues
A supply chain contains too many moving parts for entirely smooth sailing. Inevitably, your carefully laid out plans will get jostled by unexpected events
Smart Manufacturing for Smart Wear: How to Avoid Costly Mistakes By ensuring Your Design is both Consumer and Production-Ready
Augmented reality headsets that onboard factory workers, field service providers and soldiers. Caps that combat truck driver fatigue
Contract Manufacturer Evaluations
Can you think of a single downside to making your good contract manufacturer even better? And by better, we mean on a whole range of front
When to Change Contract Manufacturers
If you are unhappy with your contract manufacturer’s (CM) initial performance, there are ways you can help bring them up to par. But what do you do when, in spite of your best efforts, your CM keeps letting you down?
FDA’s Guidelines for Machine Learning in Medical Devices – The Abridged Version
Late last year, the FDA released its list of ten guiding principles for good machine learning practice (GLMP) in medical devices
Sustainable Teamwork
In our last blog, we discussed the many reasons why manufacturers should take part in a circular economy. Not only is sustainable manufacturing good for the environment, it can have a huge positive impact on a manufacturer’s brand, stakeholder relationships and bottom line.
The Circular Economy
It was not that long ago that people who cared about the environment were a niche market. ‘Green’ companies catered to this market while all others, including nearly all the largest manufacturers, focused on mainstream buyers to maintain their advantages in an economy of scale
MEMS and Manufacturing
Don’t you mean ‘memes’? For technology that has revolutionized manufacturing as well as nearly every industry, the term ‘MEMS’ sure gets autocorrected a lot.
Relationship Advice for Manufacturers
We’ve talked about finding a perfect fit contract manufacturer (CM) partner. However, no matter how compatible two parties may be, what you get out of the relationship depends heavily on what you put in, and that itself depends on what you are looking for.
How CM Expertise Helps You Control Costs
A good contract manufacturer fills the gaps in their partners’ skills, capacity or capabilities. In other words, they deliver what you pay for. A great contract manufacturer does so much more.
Breaking down Walls
A couple of months into the global pandemic, one-third of all respondents to a McKinsey survey reported that they were already struggling to deal with the worst disruption their supply chains had ever faced. Only 15 percent said they were unaffected… then again, that was in May 2020.
Make vs Buy
Make or buy? This three-word phrase gives the illusion of a simple question with a simple answer. Any manufacturer who has had to make such a decision knows it’s anything but
Strategies for Continuity
On 13 August, a prisoner was released on parole after having served just over half of his 30-month sentence. In spite of being convicted for bribes and embezzlement amounting to tens of millions of dollars, Lee Jae-yong has now been asked to return to work.
How to tell whether Providence is… or isn’t… the perfect fit CM for you
Why is it so difficult to find the right contract manufacturer? After all, you are spoiled for choice, with hundreds of thousands of companies of varying sizes and specialties.
Intellectual Property: How to Protect Your Big Ideas in a Global Supply Chain
“Intellectual property (IP) refers to creations of the mind, such as inventions; literary and artistic works; designs; and symbols, names and images used in commerce."
Dispelling Myths About Doing Business in China
Historically, foreign companies operating – or planning to operate – in China have been apprehensive about the safety of their intellectual property. This is reflected in yearly surveys conducted by the American Chamber of Commerce in China (AmCham China) as well as the US-China Business Council, in which members repeatedly raise IP as a primary concern. However, many of these misgivings surrounding IP are based on outdated or downright erroneous information.
(Net)Working Wonders
The future of healthcare is proactive, marking a shift in focus from treating illnesses to preventing them. Medical self-monitoring is a booming trend and the networks that connect patients to machines to practitioners are increasingly complex, enabling multidirectional flows of information
A Spectrum of Possibilities
For millennia, sunlight was revered for promoting good health. Then, it was discovered that too much sun drastically aged skin and increased the risk of skin cancer
Too Big, Too Small or Just Right: A Guide to Finding Your Perfect Fit Contract Manufacturer
When it comes to choosing a contract manufacturer (CM) is bigger is better or do you prefer the personal touch small CMs provide? Whatever your preference, there are certain advantages and disadvantages to CMs of different sizes. The trick is getting the best of both worlds
10 Dimensions of Excellence
While far more than just trendy jargon, “Design for Excellence” (DfX) fulfills two common buzzword criteria:
Ten ‘Must-Haves’ for Medical Device Manufacturers
Worth nearly $450 billion in 2019, the global medical device market is expected to break the $670 billion mark by 2027. In spite of such healthy growth, those who want to capture a decent share of the market need to start early and hit the ground running.
How CM-Enabled Transparency Reduces Risk and Improves Your Medical Device Supply Chain
Communication plays a critical role in any partnership. As you consider the conversations with your contract manufacturing (CM) partner, how can you ensure the best communication strategy to exceed your expectations?
At What Stage of a Product’s Lifecycle Should You Bring in a CM Partner?
Your contract manufacturing partner can have a dramatic effect on the success (or failure) of your project. While an end-to-end CM can come in at any point of your production cycle, bringing them in at exactly the right time enables you to reap the greatest rewards.
Causes, Costs and Cures for Unplanned Downtime
Some causes of unplanned downtime are as old as manufacturing itself, while others are very recent. Some of these causes impact highly regulated industries, such as medical device manufacturing, more so than other areas of manufacturing.
The Many Hats of an Integrated Contract Manufacturer
In its 2020 report, Risk, Resilience and Rebalancing in Global Value Chains, McKinsey Global Institute includes a graph plotting different types of ‘shocks’ and their potential to disrupt value chains around the world.
Leverage Key Suppliers for Consolidation
Market trends are driving significant consolidation within the medical device industry. OEMs are collaborating with suppliers that can provide solutions for multiple steps in the supply chain.
The Importance of Choosing the Right Plastic
Choosing the proper plastic for your injection molded component can be challenging. There are hundreds of raw resins to consider, and you must decide if the project will require an additive (like a flame retardant or UV stabilizer) and/or a colorant.
A Closer Look at Electrical Tests
Although many of the tests required by safety certifications like UL or CSA are performed at outside testing laboratories, some can (and need to) be done at the factory.
Moving Down the Line: Electromagnetic Linear Actuators
Let’s first talk about linear motors, that can be thought of as conventional rotating motors whose stator has been unrolled, and laid out flat.
The Basics of Stepper Motor Control
Due to their durability, reliability, efficiency and availability in standardized sizes and mounting options, stepper motors are widely used in industrial automation, robotics, and new niche consumer products like desktop 3D printers.
Sealing the Deal: A Primer on Rubber Injection Molding
Injection molding isn’t just for thermoplastics. The same process, with a few minor tweaks, can also be applied to synthetic rubbers.
A Rundown of Runners
Before molten resin can fill the part cavity, it must first wind its way from the sprue (the inlet of the mold) to the gate(s). In between those two end points, the molten resin is distributed through channels, called the runner system.
How to Successfully Contract Out Cable Harness Assembly
A lot of OEMs (particularly smaller ones) use cable assemblies in their products built in-house and usually do the assembly by hand with the help of tools like crimpers, strippers, and heat guns.
Choosing the Right Motor Can Really Move Your Application Forward
By converting electrical energy into motion, electrical motors literally keep our modern world turning. From compressors to ceiling fans, vacuum pumps to vacuum cleaners and dialysis machines to drones, motors are everywhere.
Are You as Pumped about Pumps as We Are?
Out of the three normal states of matter—solid, liquid, and gas—pumps can move the last two and pressurize the last one.
Overlooked Thermal Considerations for PCBAs
Although we immediately think of electronics when printed circuit board assemblies (PCBAs) are mentioned, good PCBA design is in fact a multidisciplinary endeavor spanning electrical, mechanical, and even chemical engineering.
The Importance of Tool Material Choice
In injection molding, there are two critical “material” choices that need to be made: which plastic material to make the product out of, and which tool material to use when building the part’s mold.
The Importance of Gates
Gates can be a standard part of the injection molding process. They are normally formed as molten plastic flows from the machine’s nozzle tip into a sprue and runner system, then into the part’s cavity.
Using Core-outs to Reduce the Weight of Plastic Parts
Core-outs are sections of a plastic part where a thick section of solid material has been replaced by a square, rectangle, or hexagonal section. This effectively replaces that solid material with empty voids surrounded by walls and ribs of uniform thickness.
Importance of DFM Analysis For Injection Molding
When OEMs and contract manufactures skip this step, an opportunity is lost to combine engineering and manufacturing expertise to detect manufacturing issues and correct them before significant costs are incurred.
Medical Device Contract Manufacturing — When Less is More
In the highly competitive industry of medical devices, outsourcing is almost required to stay ahead. Its benefits are evident — multidisciplinary expertise, cost savings, flexibility, expansion, reduced risk, increased innovation, and quality assurance to name just a few.
Choosing the Correct Tool Cavitation
Injection molding is a great way to produce a large number of plastic components at high speed and a reasonable cost. What OEMs often overlook.
The Importance of Uniform Wall Thickness in Plastics
Keeping the walls of your injection molded plastic part the same thickness is important for maintaining good cosmetics and structural integrity.