Design for Manufacture emerged as a critical part of the DNA of successful Australian medical technology companies at 2009 AusMedtech Conference held in Sydney last week.
Speaking to an audience of over 100 players in the Australian medical industry, ARRK, Cogentum and Invetech provided a compelling case for the adoption of Design for Manufacture by medical technology firms.
A recent qualitative study of medical devices companies conducted by Cogentum reveals that Design for Manufacture is well known as a process throughout the industry, however the adoption and practice of the methodology differs greatly.
Michael Johnson a director of Cogentum said, "While Australian medical devices firms continue to create and develop world leading technology; it would seem that they still struggle to bring the technology to market at a margin that truly rewards founders, management teams and investors.
"According to a recent qualitative study, moving from ensuring you can make what you have designed to making money on the volume, emerged as a critical challenge facing Australian medical companies as they move from start up to growth businesses," Johnson said.
Travis Hardy Manufacturing and Tooling Manager at ARRK said, "Design for manufacture provides a very real and tangible process by which Australian Medical Technology companies can redress this issue.
"When coupled with the ability to move from lab bench to prototyping quickly and cheaply using the latest rapid prototyping technologies, Australian Medical technology firms are well placed to shorten their time to market and deliver better margins," Hardy said
The interactive session identified some of the critical issues facing the industry and discussed the challenges companies face when commercialising technology and bringing it to a global market.
Hardy and David James from Invetech illustrated the power of the Design for Manufacture process and how and where it mitigates much of the development risk that many medical technology company's face.
As the Australian medical industry continues to move from strength to strength it is increasingly apparent that the rigour and structure provided by Design for Manufacture not only reduces development risk, but also had a straight to the bottom line impact on the performance of these emerging businesses.
Summarizing the 2.5 hours workshop, Hardy commented, "In any economic environment, and especially the current one, investors are seeking reassurance that all value that can be captured is directed to the bottom line".
"Design for Manufacture provides not only management teams, but investors with the assurance that the technology can be manufactured at the optimal cost and with the true margin flowing straight back to the company," Hardy said.
For more information visit www.arrk.com.au.