Last year we published our first annual Medical Device Product Development and Quality Management benchmark report to help organizations understand the strategies, tactics, and technologies that differentiate market-leading companies.
This year’s report continues in this same direction while also exploring the growing market demands, operational challenges, and the weight of a global health crisis that is pressuring medical device companies to rethink strategies and solutions moving into 2021.
We surveyed hundreds of professionals working in the medical device industry — in both quality management and product development — to understand their approach to technology, risk management, process improvement, and even how they are weathering the pandemic.
Our goal is to give you a clear understanding of the critical industry benchmarks, technological shifts, and overcoming internal divides within organizations that will help you navigate through uncertainty and maintain a competitive advantage in the new year.
Hope this report supports you in finding further success in the coming year.
Results from the 2021 Medical Device Product Development and Quality Management Benchmark Survey were driven by over 300 global participants, of whom are employed in engineering, quality, regulatory, and operational roles by organizations ranging in size from small to enterprise level.
The current health crisis has impacted medical device companies and served as a catalyst for quality and product development improvement while revealing insights into current challenges and inefficiencies. We set out to understand their approach to technology, risk management, process improvement, and just how they are overcoming the pandemic.
The COVID-19 pandemic has buoyed the fortunes of some medical device companies due to spikes in demand.
For others, the crisis has largely wreaked havoc on supply chains and revenue projections.
Looking ahead, the picture appears to be more favorable in 2021.
Medical device companies expect modest-strong revenue growth, and very few expect revenue shrinkage.
Remote teams are relying heavily on storing and accessing documents on a shared network (3 in 4 report doing this) or accessing files under some type of document control (59%).
This introduces new, significant risks around access, security challenges, and operational efficiency.
Company leadership often has different focus and expectations vs. managers and individual contributors — and these differences can lead to additional risk, as well as affect job satisfaction.
While technology is never curative, the right tools do give companies a significant advantage.
Similar to last year’s findings, tech maturity remains stubbornly low in the industry with roughly half of all respondents say they use general-purpose tools to support design control and risk management processes (53%) and for quality management processes (49%).
The research points out the specific benefits that specialized technology for the medical device industry offers the companies that deploy it.
Regardless of quality or total risk, how efficient are internal processes that oversee these?
is the average time it takes to compile a Design History File.
say it takes 2 days or more to update a traceability matrix.
Only 13% can do so in less than one hour.
say that documenting closed-loop traceability (CLT) requires “substantial effort.”
Just 28% can document CLT in real-time.
To join the ranks of high-performing companies in the medical device industry, we see four key areas for medical device companies to focus on in 2021 and beyond.
How are highly competitive companies outperforming their peers? The research uncovers what these best-in-class organizations are doing differently.
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4x more likely to forecast strong revenue growth in 2021. |
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40% begin documenting design controls in a traceability matrix during concept and feasibility.
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1/2 ensure fully integrated risk management into the QMS throughout the product life cycle. |
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2x more likely to leverage traceability for impact analysis. |
Quality is no longer a “checkbox” activity, but a key generator for competitive strength. High performing companies view quality as a tactical advantage and a mindset that influences best-in-class product development and product improvement - while outperforming their peers.