The medical device manufacturing industry is increasingly utilizing engineering support to accelerate product development and shorten development cycles. As a result, contract manufacturers are expanding their engineering capabilities to better position themselves as CDMOs. Other supply chain partners have also incorporated this into their offerings to ensure they are meeting OEM needs.

Some companies have supported this for some time, well before the more recent trend. They’ve embraced an engineering-first approach to guarantee decisions are made early that will enable a smooth transfer from design to manufacturing. This strategy also ensures the most critical aspects of a product design are identified and addressed before becoming more expensive challenges later.

To help further explain the benefits of an engineering-first approach, Sean Kramer, Applications Engineer at MicroLumen, participated in this interview. In the following Q&A, he explains what this approach is, why it can be valuable to medical device manufacturers, important considerations, and how it smooths the pathway through manufacturing.

Sean Fenske: What is an engineering-first approach in terms of product development? What does that mean exactly?

Sean Kramer: At MicroLumen, our engineering-first approach starts by bringing together medical device engineers and our in-house team of applications engineers at the…