Speeding up your medtech innovation
We asked Peter Douglass, director of technical operations at Proto Labs (Maple Plain, Minn.) for his thoughts on how medtech can speed up its processes and how those activities tap into innovation. (Douglass will speak about this topic at DeviceTalks Boston on Oct. 2. Check out Proto Labs at Booth 103–104, too.)
MDO: Research reports have suggested that fast iteration leads to faster product launch, and therefore better market success. But does speed lead to innovation?
Peter Douglass: Absolutely! First, let’s look at it from a time savings perspective. Any reduction in your new product launch timelines is time that can be reallocated to coming up with new ideas. Teams of innovative people aren’t going to sit around twiddling their thumbs if they have extra time. Beyond time savings, speed is something that integrates quick thinking into the everyday culture. If your deadline is reduced from a month to a week you need to become super-efficient at solving problems. This sense of a “crisis” often brings out the best in the shortest amount of time. If you can install that type of thinking into an everyday practice, innovation is one of many things that will benefit.
And here are more articles with DeviceTalks Boston speakers:
Is there a digital health solution for treating pain? (Frank McGillin, NeuroMetrix’s chief commercial officer)
Want to sell your medtech startup? Be one of these three things (Peter Stebbins, Johnson & Johnson Innovation)
GI Dynamics CEO Scott Schorer is optimistic about Endobarrier’s future: Here’s why
NxStage Medical’s Todd Snell talks FDA, Brexit & regulatory strategy
Did Congress just kill medical device innovation? (Vascular Science’s Mike Drues)
