It’s Time to Simplify the Production Process
Medical device manufacturers are facing more challenges than ever before — and have been for quite some time. With the ongoing pandemic, supply chain issues surrounding raw materials and acquiring product components, combined with the potential for increased regulation from the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) regarding cybersecurity, all mean one thing. Companies now, more than never, need to maintain productivity to get their devices into the hands of physicians and consumers quickly.
While there are many phases in the production of medical devices and other electronics, one of the most helpful and strategic is kitting. Many devices are sent to medical facilities and consumers as a branded kit — requiring final assembly and configuration on their end. These kits are helpful ways to get products into end users’ hands quickly, but they still take time for manufacturers to put together.
Parts located in different warehouse bays and aisles must be gathered, requiring workers to spend time collecting them and assembling them into a final kit. But with today’s labor shortages, this is becoming more and more of a challenge. This is where professional electronics kitting services can play a valuable role, by helping manufacturers get orders for medical devices and other electronics to their final destinations.
Advantages of Electronics Kitting Services
You Spend More Time on Production Goals
If you’ve been impacted by supply chain and labor shortages, it goes without saying that you need to be focused on identifying new suppliers and ensuring the materials and components you need get to your facilities for production. Without this critical first step, you won’t be shipping any products whatsoever, so this phase must take precedence.
Electronics kitting services take this time-consuming final phase of production off of your plate entirely, entrusting it to a reliable third party with the equipment and processes needed to do it efficiently and accurately. Kitting typically goes hand-in-hand with electronics manufacturing and assembly services as well, allowing you to spend even more time on the more important aspects of your production while the rest is handled for you.
Costs Are Reduced Long-Term
While you’re outsourcing this phase of production, electronics kitting services enable cost reduction in the long-term for a few reasons. First, if your employees are managing this process internally, that comes with its own costs: less focus on revenue-generating activities, fewer products or devices made, and more time spent searching for parts and building the kits themselves. While it may seem insignificant to manage this in-house, those costs will quickly begin to stack up — becoming more and more visible in terms of their impact on your bottom line.
By entrusting electronics kitting services to a proven third party, your company is able to focus on tasks that produce more revenue sooner. Your employees are reprioritized on what matters most, and the costs associated with personnel are reduced. Additionally, working with a company that specializes in electronics kitting services ensures that accidents, misplaced products, missing components, and other challenges are reduced. This in turn reduces returned orders, service calls, and related shipments — all of which have their own costs.
Speed to Market (and Users) is Reduced
As mentioned earlier, the last thing you need is to have healthcare providers and consumers waiting on backlogged products. You may already be facing challenges acquiring the components you need to create your products — don’t make your customers wait longer than they have to by managing kitting and assembly in-house. Imagine the impact and frustration if an in-house-assembled kit is sent to a customer, only for that person to find critical parts missing that are needed to operate the device. That lost time and frustration can be mitigated with electronics kitting services.
When a third party handles electronics kitting for your company, you can rest assured that orders are being assembled efficiently thanks to the use of advanced packing equipment, efficient gathering processes, and more. Entrusting them with this important, final phase of the production process is a major responsibility — one that shouldn’t be taken on lightly. That’s why it’s also important to work with a company that utilizes established processes and reporting frameworks to ensure they’re maintaining service levels.
Get Electronics Kitting Services at South Dakota Partners
Built on decades of medical device and electronics industry expertise, South Dakota Partners is the electronics manufacturing, assembly, and kitting services partner you need to support your organization during this challenging time. We can also support all of your post-production needs such as distribution, inventory management, reworking, and more.
We are an FDA registered medical device manufacturer and maintain compliance with several industry standards and certifications, including IPC-A-610, RoHS, and ISO 13485. We are your complete risk mitigation partner, helping you to avoid supply chain disruptions while also supporting your manufacturing, distribution, and aftermarket repair needs.
Connect with us today to learn more about our electronics kitting services.
