The biomedical industry is one of the fastest growing industries worldwide, with the north of England alone already enjoying £5 billion in annual sales through this sector. It is an industry that comprises healthcare product manufacture, instrumentation, and pharmaceutical equipment; with innovation at its core. As the process of globalisation accelerates, the biomedical sector is one that is primed for even further growth, but how can businesses in this sector ensure that their technology and processes are keeping up with a constantly changing business landscape?
Quality is an integral part of the biomedical industry, and with strict medical regulatory certifications and compliance to adhere, manufacturers in the biomedical space need cradle to grave lot traceability.
This can be achieved by linking up Material Resource Planning, Quality Assurance Management, document management and sales order functions. With full lot traceability, biomedical manufacturers can ensure that every part used in production can be traced through receipt, manufacture, assembly, inspection, stocking and final distribution, while maintaining quality assurance certification. Should there be an issue with a part number, product recalls can be managed efficiently. Basic workflows can help biomedical manufacturers to ensure they stick to their ISO standards, which is an integral quality mark for any business in this industry.
As NHS, Local Authorities and other government bodies become increasingly more aware of their environmental commitments, this trend has also found its way into the wider supply chain, and suppliers into the sector are also significantly reducing their paper consumption and in turn, their operating costs. A complete ERP solution with advanced document management can help biomedical manufacturers to automate their paper trails, from purchase order collation to design drawings. Aside from the time saving efficiency that businesses can benefit from when automating their paper trails, document management also delivers greater control over the supply chain, resulting in reduced costs and greater customer service.
With such an expansive marketplace and growth opportunities, many biomedical manufacturers have expanded their business overseas and now run from multiple international locations, so an ERP system is vital to maintaining control of multiple operations through one single, central system.
