Christopher Delporte , Group Editor03.15.10
I’ve always been amazed at people who seem to have a slew of friends no matter where they go. I’m talking about the type of people who can go into a bar at the beginning of the evening knowing only a few souls and leave having befriended the entire establishment—shaking hands and backslapping on the way out. I’ve always perceived that as a true talent. This, I think, is particularly true in a Facebook world. We all know the person who has 1,200 “friends.” Sure, this individual may have met all of these people at one point or another, but does he or she really know them?
That doesn’t mean that I can’t conceive of having a large network of friends. On the contrary, I’ve always maintained a core group of friends that I know I’m able to depend on through life’s ups and downs and with whom I always enjoy spending time. But, for me, it takes a long time to develop that kind of friendship. Beyond that, there are acquaintances—people you like or have met only a few times and see infrequently (perhaps with the potential to be good friends). Time, trust and shared experiences create unbreakably strong bonds.
Why am I bringing this up? As the March issue of Medical Product Outsourcing came together, I began to realize that the overall theme of the issue seems to be about relationships and maintaining and evaluating the right business associations—a critical ability in today’s tougher business climate. Manufacturers—to maintain an edge—must not only have a secure grasp of their own processes, but also must intimately understand what their suppliers, vendors, contract manufacturers, and various other partners are capable of. Clearly, that doesn’t mean taking someone else’s word for it. It’s a push-pull relationship in which both parties are asking the right questions of the other and driving separate variables of the process.
For example, in the extrusion feature in this month’s issue, contributing writer Mark Crawford explains that successful extruders need to invest meaningful time developing close relationships with their customers to manage increasingly complex communications. As medical devices become more complicated, device designers need to communicate more complex requirements to their manufacturers, and extruders need to add value by rigorously advocating for design for manufacturability.
“Tough communications like this can easily become adversarial unless they take place within an intimate and healthy relationship,” noted one of the suppliers interviewed for the article. “Such relationships are fostered by a considerable investment in one-on-one interaction, developing a deeper understanding and knowledge of people’s needs, and showing genuine concern for those needs. It takes a real commitment from upper management to empower their sales teams and engineers to spend this much time up front with customers, but the payoffs in the long run are indispensable.”
In addition, a duo of vendor evaluation articles guides readers through some of what industry insiders are saying about the best ways to manage such critical partnerships.
Kelly Lucenti, industry executive and a contributing writer in this edition of MPO, points out that as the industry expands, pressure is mounting from federal regulators and customers for medical device manufacturers to develop tighter controls on outside suppliers. The result is that manufacturers are trimming supplier lists, many of which include hundreds of vendors, and they are prioritizing relationships and establishing or overhauling approved supplier lists. He offers a number of metrics to help firms establish the best vendor evaluation protocols.
In his in-depth look at the vendor evaluation process, Managing Editor Michael Barbella outlines what many companies—OEMs and suppliers—are doing to vet vendors, ensuring well-balanced, productive and successful partnerships.
"Developing an effective, easy-to-deploy method of evaluating suppliers has become a crucial business competency in the medical device industry,” Barbella writes. “Manufacturing firms that evaluate their supply base reap numerous benefits from the practice, including better visibility of vendor performance, reduced risk and cost, and an increased competitive advantage.”
Much like the core group of friends you can depend on to stick with you through thick and thin, a steadfast stable of business partners often is just as time-consuming to cultivate. But the rewards most certainly are worth the effort it takes to relationship build. And, if you’re doing it right, it’s not work. With the right people behind you, you don’t have to worry about looking back as you charge forward.
That doesn’t mean that I can’t conceive of having a large network of friends. On the contrary, I’ve always maintained a core group of friends that I know I’m able to depend on through life’s ups and downs and with whom I always enjoy spending time. But, for me, it takes a long time to develop that kind of friendship. Beyond that, there are acquaintances—people you like or have met only a few times and see infrequently (perhaps with the potential to be good friends). Time, trust and shared experiences create unbreakably strong bonds.
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For example, in the extrusion feature in this month’s issue, contributing writer Mark Crawford explains that successful extruders need to invest meaningful time developing close relationships with their customers to manage increasingly complex communications. As medical devices become more complicated, device designers need to communicate more complex requirements to their manufacturers, and extruders need to add value by rigorously advocating for design for manufacturability.
“Tough communications like this can easily become adversarial unless they take place within an intimate and healthy relationship,” noted one of the suppliers interviewed for the article. “Such relationships are fostered by a considerable investment in one-on-one interaction, developing a deeper understanding and knowledge of people’s needs, and showing genuine concern for those needs. It takes a real commitment from upper management to empower their sales teams and engineers to spend this much time up front with customers, but the payoffs in the long run are indispensable.”
In addition, a duo of vendor evaluation articles guides readers through some of what industry insiders are saying about the best ways to manage such critical partnerships.
Kelly Lucenti, industry executive and a contributing writer in this edition of MPO, points out that as the industry expands, pressure is mounting from federal regulators and customers for medical device manufacturers to develop tighter controls on outside suppliers. The result is that manufacturers are trimming supplier lists, many of which include hundreds of vendors, and they are prioritizing relationships and establishing or overhauling approved supplier lists. He offers a number of metrics to help firms establish the best vendor evaluation protocols.
In his in-depth look at the vendor evaluation process, Managing Editor Michael Barbella outlines what many companies—OEMs and suppliers—are doing to vet vendors, ensuring well-balanced, productive and successful partnerships.
"Developing an effective, easy-to-deploy method of evaluating suppliers has become a crucial business competency in the medical device industry,” Barbella writes. “Manufacturing firms that evaluate their supply base reap numerous benefits from the practice, including better visibility of vendor performance, reduced risk and cost, and an increased competitive advantage.”
Much like the core group of friends you can depend on to stick with you through thick and thin, a steadfast stable of business partners often is just as time-consuming to cultivate. But the rewards most certainly are worth the effort it takes to relationship build. And, if you’re doing it right, it’s not work. With the right people behind you, you don’t have to worry about looking back as you charge forward.