Contract manufacturers serving the medical device market typically divide into two distinct segments: electronics contract manufacturing and precision engineering contract manufacturers. Electronics contract manufacturers build both printed circuit board assemblies (PCBAs) and electromechanical systems. Precision engineering contract manufacturers focus on non-electronic products requiring molding, metal fabrication, extrusions or other custom components. There are distinct skill sets in each type of supplier. Electronics contract manufacturers are typically experts in the assembly and test issues related to PCBAs and associated box builds. Precision engineering contract manufacturers are expert in tooling development, materials qualification and assembly automation.

The reasons these distinct supplier segments exist is because medical devices segregated neatly into each segment. However, as electronics become more pervasive there is more convergence. One good example of this is drug delivery systems. The dispensing mechanism is electromechanical, but there is also a substantial amount of tubing and disposable components associated with the system.

A core benefit of either type of contract manufacturer is access to shared resources of production at a fraction of the cost of developing that production infrastructure inhouse. Customers pay for the shared machine time they use instead of having to absorb the full costs of inhouse equipment they may not be fully utilizing.

The disadvantage of segregating contract manufacturing services to either electromechanical or precision engineering disciplines is that creates silos in the product development phase, increases complexity of the supply chain and may add redundant cost structures or markups to the final assembly and fulfillment process.

Forefront Medical Technology believes that offering both electromechanical and precision engineering services is fundamental to achieving lowest total cost of ownership in contract manufacturing. In the drug delivery system example discussed above, the ability to address both the electromechanical, tubing and disposable component elements of the equation enables customers to leverage synergies throughout the product development and commercialization process. This whitepaper looks at the benefits of this type of full service outsourcing approach in terms of product development, regulatory considerations, supply chain management, production and assembly processes, and fulfillment. Read the full whitepaper here.