Today's Medical Benefits: Medical Manufacturing at COVID-19 Speed

Critical device suppliers can boost productivity while maintaining quality by embracing new strategies.

"Across the nation, medical device and medical supply manufacturers face a massive need for products to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. And, there is high demand for quick delivery. This puts manufacturers in a bind. Production speed is easy to increase if you are willing to sacrifice quality. Quality is easy to maintain if there’s enough time. To achieve the highest quality at higher production rates, there are strategies to apply.

Medical production is a no-fail environment, as defects or inaccuracies can cost lives. Communicating and escalating quality control (QC) problems must be a top priority, streamlined so they are clear to everyone involved.

Quality must be built into medical devices. Post-production inspections are vital, but they can’t be the only solution. In a crisis, there’s no time for do-overs.

If quality inspectors are finding defects, you have a quality control risk championed by a process capability problem. A zero defects philosophy means fully addressing every problem. Errors found during QC inspection should signal high alert. It should trigger a full root cause analysis and a rigorous process for addressing the issue and implementing corrective actions from the production process back to the supplier and the process if needed."

Read the full article on Today's Medical Developments