MDO Tech Trends: Medical technology design and engineering survey

What supply chain issues are you experiencing, and how are you addressing them? Are there particularly unique/creative solutions you’ve used to overcome or resolve recent supply chain issues?

How have new cybersecurity needs and requirements changed how you develop/manufacture devices, including design and selection of components/partners?

What new capabilities do your components or engineered designs incorporate to support functions related to fog computing? What edge devices do you supply or support to allow for use of feedback signals or distributed motion control? Detail any offerings your company has with MQTT support of connectivity to Amazon Web Services (AWS), IBM Cloud, Microsoft Azure, or SAP Cloud. Have you begun to sell (or seen use of) gateways to give new and legacy equipment more connectivity? How is the IIoT and increasingly networked manufacturing prompting changes in the way motion systems are installed? What are some connectivity-component features to help future-proof designs? Describe some interesting applications you’ve seen for cables over the last 12 months. Describe what you're seeing in time-sensitive networking (TSN) and its application in motion applications. Detail your thoughts on new trends in wireless connectivity and technologies related to wireless power transfer. What industrial applications of 5G do you see coming down the pipeline over the next five years?

Tell us about your involvement in the convergence of software, cloud computing, and additive manufacturing (3D printing) technologies as well as traditional machining and injection molding to give manufacturers the ability to cost-effectively supply batch sizes down to one. What motion-control and automation solutions have you developed, and which do you use from partners?

Tell us about your views concerning government incentives to increase U.S competitiveness in semiconductor manufacturing. How are your components and systems used in the equipment for this specialized market?

For third-party partners, in what ways have you assumed design work for device developers? How can OEMs and plant engineers get better designs through the outsourcing of portions of the motion-control system design? Tell us about any selector, sizing, or sales software you use or offer to customers and how these tools are changing how design engineering is done. What value-add services (or in-house engineering support) have you provided to an OEM or other customer during the last 12 months? Tell us about any customization programs you have.

What are the most challenging regulations and standards to meet, and are there any coming that will introduce significant hurdles for device developers, manufacturers and/or their partners?

Describe any programs you have to educate engineers (internal and external to your company), non-degreed personnel, distributor sales representatives, OEMs, and end users of your components and systems. Has COVID changed those programs in ways that still persist?

Please describe any advances in this field that could be helpful for other divide designers and engineers.

Please discuss any new applications of miniature brakes or clutches you’ve used or supplied. What is a brake or clutch design feature that was customized to a recent application?

Please discuss new materials, lubricants, and sizes to give engineers more design options — and any other trends you see. Describe a recent application in general terms.

Describe new forms of connectivity and programming as well as new capabilities for motion and automation controllers. Describe how hardware as well as software has evolved and any new offerings from your company.

Please discuss any new mechanical couplings in the marketplace. What new applications have you supported with your couplings over the last 12 months? Have you begun selling any new couplings having IoT functionality thanks to integrated feedback? What is a recent problem you saw from an end user, and what was the solution ... improvement of the coupling installation, changing of the coupling model, or something else?

Please discuss any trends you see or new offerings in the marketplace. Discuss the rise of safety drives and their functions. Explain an application where you’ve seen drives significantly increase the design or installation efficiency.

Please discuss any trends you see. Discuss how increasing encoder capabilities are spurring demand for higher-performance networking and connectivity options. Discuss modular and user-formatted offerings.

Please discuss any trends or new modes of specification, modular offerings, and pre-integration of gear offerings. What new applications have you supported with your gears over the last 12 months? Please discuss any new gearmotor items you offer. Discuss efficiency improvements and new options for washdown or corrosive settings.

Describe the increasingly common process for outsourcing the design of motion subassemblies such as stages, gantries, and XY tables. What are some application-specific electric actuators or pneumatic actuators that your company has begun to offer and why? What servo-pneumatic designs have you seen expanding the use of fluid power? What new linear-motor applications have you seen recently? What value-added services (or in-house engineering support) have you provided during the last 12 months? Please discuss any trends you see in linear guides, slides, and ways. Are your designs seeing any application in laboratory automation? Detail any recent miniaturization or integration of feedback devices in linear components. Please discuss any hot new industries using more leadscrews than in the past. Also discuss the convergence of ISO, DIN, and JIS standards and any effect this has had on your customers. Finally: What’s behind the strong growth in the use of ballscrews and (even more dramatically) roller screws?

How are you or your partners driving advances in device miniaturization? What new advances are needed for further progress?

What are some new cable connection options on and for your motors? Please discuss any trends you see in the use of brushed motors. What new applications or markets have begun employing brushless motors over the last 12 months? Please discuss new options for brushless dc servomotors and the planetary gearheads that pair with them. Stepper motors and stepper-based linear actuation: Discuss new applications for permanent-magnet stepper motors — including those with diameters of just a few millimeters. How is it that motor manufacturers can build motors of sizes impossible just a decade ago? What are some newer approaches to getting top precision from miniature motors? Discuss the burgeoning options for closed-loop motor control. Detail any new washdown-grade or explosion-proof motor offerings from your company — and special (industry or application-specific) certifications and their meaning. Induction motors: Discuss any new applications for your offerings here — as well as any inverter-duty motors finding new use; also detail any PMAC offerings in larger applications you’ve seen recently.

Please describe any new advances in nitinol from you or your partners, including applications, manufacturing capabilities, and any other information that could be useful for device designers and engineers.

Describe how the trend for ever-higher throughput is prompting more use of shock and vibration mitigation and give application examples if possible. Share any observations you wish to share on vibration mitigation for microscopy, photonics, laboratory automation, metrology, and semiconductor manufacturing. Describe any new friction-spring offerings ... and where you see them being used in the future. What is a recent application for your dampers, gas springs, and suspension offerings? What kinds of new IoT functionalities do you see in the space of vibration mitigation and damping? Have you seen increased use of your components in applications not previously automated or damped at all? What features are unique or exclusive in the industry to your components alone?

Are you or your partners developing, designing, manufacturing or packaging devices differently with regard to sterilization compared to previous years? What do you see as the biggest challenges and opportunities for sterilization safety and capacity?

How are you or your partners implementing sustainability practices, which could include things like the use of recyclable/renewable materials or design features for extended life, easy disassembly for scrap recovery, or reductions in greenhouse gas emissions in manufacturing and shipping?