Medical Device Supply Chain

Having a well-managed supply chain is important to every industry. In the aerospace and defense industry, manufacturers have to audit their suppliers to make sure they are following regulations regarding weapons sales. In the food and beverage industry, with rising demand for sustainably sourced, organic and fair trade goods, manufacturers need to track numerous ingredients to be certain they’re providing customers with the high quality they’ve been promised. For medical device companies, supply chain management is even more critical. 

The Inventory Dilemma of Medical Device Manufacturers

Visibility into one’s supply chain is a key tool for controlling costs throughout an organization. In order to avoid stock-outs that can result in serious repercussions for patients, medical device companies carry high levels of inventory and are notorious for having low turnover. This strategy results in high costs of maintaining so much extra product, and loss of sales representative productivity from having to manage their “trunk-stock.”

To get around the increased costs and risk associated with the high-inventory approach, companies are re-evaluating supply chains and pursuing efficiency opportunities. The ability to predict demand is critical and supply chain visibility is imperative to improving inventory performance while preserving fulfillment and delivery commitments.

Consequently, many MedTech manufacturers are implementing solutions that offer real-time visibility into on-hand inventory, production schedules and order commitments. Demand and supply chain planning solutions that provide accurate forecasts and enhanced mobile capabilities allow for significant reductions in inventory while maintaining customer service metrics and meeting full commitments.

Optimizing Your Supply Chain

QAD offers cloud-based ERP solutions delivered in a qualified environment, purposely built for medical device manufacturing. QAD ERP enables full control of the manufacturing processes while remaining compliant with global GMP regulations. To learn more about QAD Demand and Supply Chain Planning solutions, download this white paper on the issues facing manufacturers in the medical device industry.

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