Could AI be the next big thing for medical device manufacturing?

Officials at machine learning and artificial intelligence consulting company Wovenware think AI could boost the quality of medical device manufacturing.

The San Juan, Puerto Rico–based company already has clients in a variety of industries including airlines, education, food, financial services, insurance, telecommunications and utilities. Now it’s working with a number of medical device companies to test proof of concept at plants on the island, according to COO and co-founder Carlos Meléndez.

When it comes to factors such as materials used in the manufacturing process, medical device plants are generally the same, Meléndez told Medical Design & Outsourcing.

“Plants across the world compete for business,” Meléndez said. “It’s really about the quality of the process. The quality is directly responsible for the overhead and manpower on the process.”

Wovenware has been working with business and quality offices at medical device manufacturing plants to boost the software capabilities of equipment on the manufacturing line, according to Meléndez. The idea is that machine learning will eventually enable the equipment to take note of circumstances where quality was reduced and then alert engineers when similar situations crop up.

Puerto Rico is actually an opportune place to try out potential medical device manufacturing innovations. Major medtech companies including Medtronic, Johnson & Johnson and Stryker have plants on the U.S. island territory. The importance of Puerto Rico’s medical device manufacturing became evident last year after disruptions caused by Hurricane Maria.