It's no secret recent worldwide events have pushed us all to become more agile in our operations and respond to changes in new ways. Medical device manufacturers have come into the spotlight and are especially vital.
Let’s look at a product development team from a medical device manufacturer to see how they can bring clinical-grade personal protection equipment to market in new ways and faster than before.
The team is asked to design, test and manufacture clinical-grade respirators with a total production cost of under $15 per unit within the next 12 weeks.
To start, the team summarizes and analyzes input from online and in-person surveys using the Voice of the Customer summary form and Kano Model in Minitab Workspace.
Based on some of that feedback, the team designed, manufactured and tested prototypes using 3-D printing technology. Due to a reduced timeline, the team verified the design concept performing Accelerated Life Testing and conducts process capability studies using Minitab Statistical Software.
With these tools working together, the company was able to design, test and launch a new product in 8 weeks from project kick-off. The right combination of innovation tools in Minitab Workspace and data analysis in Minitab helped them stay focused and deliver results at a fast pace. A comfortable, new mask was born and received with high acceptance by the market while complying with government regulations at an affordable price, increasing the company’s profit by 15% year over year.
Thanks to Minitab Solutions Architect Antonio Vargas for the research and technical support on this use case!