As technology becomes more advanced and accessible to all businesses, the MedTech industry is increasingly turning to automation to enhance quality, boost output, and reduce lead times. Automation not only improve processes but also increase productivity, driving profits and growth.
In this blog, we share a discussion among our experts - Bo Krogh Knudsen, Industry Practice Lead; Daniel Søgaard Jensen, Business Process Automation Consultant; and Jesper Lillelund, Director of Business Development - about process automation in the MedTech industry. We share their key insights and answers, covering topics such as the current state of business automation in the MedTech industry, the practical use cases that companies should prioritize, and how MedTech businesses can get started.
State of business automation in the MedTech industry
Bo Krogh Knudsen, Industry Practice Lead at Columbus, highlights the significant potential for enhancing automation in the MedTech industry, even as companies increasingly prioritize modern technology. He draws a comparison between the maturity levels in MedTech and those in manufacturing. However, Bo explains that MedTech companies face additional challenges due to greater documentation requirements, quality tests, and traceability issues.
“MedTech companies often have separate systems, such as a quality assurance system that isn’t integrated with the rest of their infrastructure. This means checking another system to confirm product validity. Additionally, the quality system may lack traceability because that data resides in the ERP system, leading to many separate, unlinked systems."
He also addresses quality issues, “Many quality tests are still done on paper and not entered into a system, hindering the ability to verify product quality at the point of sale. Customers have varied specifications and measurements, which the current system can’t track if they aren’t inputted."
Bo explains several potential reasons for low automation levels in MedTech. “Many companies still use legacy systems, making automation challenging. Additionally, there are concerns about the costs associated with automation, with some believing it to be a complex and expensive project, leading to an element of fear. MedTech companies can also experience rapid growth, creating a gap between their startup-level IT and the advanced systems they require as they expand.”
However, technology has advanced significantly, making automation simpler than ever. Modern low-code/no-code technologies enable automation quickly without requiring lengthy projects or significant financial investments. These technologies can easily integrate with legacy systems and be implemented incrementally, allowing organizations to scale according to their specific needs.
“Automation technologies have been around for a while and are now relatively easy to implement,” says Jesper Lillelund, Director of Business Development. “We often discuss starting with a proof of concept (POC). In just 50 to 100 hours, we can showcase scalability by providing a working prototype that effectively demonstrates what's possible. Previously, significant investments in software and hardware were necessary to start. Now, trial licenses allow testing without upfront costs.”
Daniel Søgaard Jensen adds, “I recently worked with a customer who faced the challenge of managing Word documents containing up to 100 fields that needed to be printed, filled out by hand, scanned, and manually re-entered. We implemented document automation with the Power Platform, which quickly reads these documents and alerts users about any uncertainties. The user can then verify and correct errors. The great thing is that it’s easy and fast to set up; we trained it to read various documents in just one day.”
Practical business automation use cases in the MedTech industry
During our discussions, our experts highlight some of the most impactful automation use cases that MedTech companies should prioritize. These examples demonstrate how business process automation can drive efficiency, reduce errors, and unlock new revenue streams through servitization.
Accelerating revenue growth
Enabling new revenue streams through servitization – servitization offers innovative business models that involve providing ongoing service for medical devices while maintaining a connection with customers. This approach fosters longer engagement and opens doors for upselling or cross-selling services, creating new revenue streams. Once you open this door, gathering post-sales/implementation feedback is essential for understanding device performance in real-world settings and identifying improvement areas. Automating this feedback collection enhances efficiency, leading to timely insights that boost customer satisfaction and drive further opportunities.
Enhance product development through data analysis – analyzing various inputs, not just feedback, can significantly enhance product development. By leveraging AI-driven analytics tools, you can automate data analysis, swiftly identify trends, and make informed, data-driven decisions to improve your products. This comprehensive approach ensures that you stay ahead in the market.
Implementing chatbots and automated response systems for common inquiries – as the MedTech industry increasingly explores direct sales to customers, adopting best practices for engaging with direct consumers is crucial. This includes optimizing support teams, enhancing websites, and ensuring seamless communication. Implementing automated response systems for common inquiries can significantly streamline these interactions. By automating routine customer and supplier inquiries, you can prevent your support teams from being overwhelmed, leading to quicker response times and happier customers. AI-driven chatbots can efficiently address common questions, allowing your team to focus on more complex issues while enhancing overall engagement.
Ensuring compliance and upholding quality standards
Automate documentation for quality control processes - quality control documentation is often labor-intensive, requiring extensive manual record-keeping. As Bo Krogh Knudsen highlights, the primary challenge lies in ensuring that all tasks are completed accurately and on time. “When dealing with a bill of materials that has numerous components, tracing the origin of each one can be time-consuming, especially with disparate systems for quality assurance, production registration, and maintenance. Merging these systems and documenting the production process demands significant effort. For example, taking photographs to verify cleanliness before production requires substantial documentation and traceability. Relying on manual processes increases the risk of errors.”
You likely have a quality management system (QMS) in place, or at the very least, you should consider implementing one. However, there are numerous areas where automation can greatly enhance your quality control efforts. By automating these processes, you can ensure that every step is accurately documented, fulfilling regulatory requirements without the administrative burden. Jesper Lillelund, Director of Business Development, highlights that these tools are easy and quick to set up, allowing you to focus on other important business matters. “AI can read and complete documents, provide answers and summaries, categorize data for analysis and much more. Approval steps can be added to secure quality and accuracy and over time, machine learning and AI models will continuously improve to support fully AI automation processes."
Track training and certification of employees - managing employee training and certification can be challenging, especially with multiple regulatory requirements. Automating the tracking of certifications ensures all employees are current, providing peace of mind and reducing administrative overhead. Daniel Søgaard Jensen notes that there’s still room to automate processes that may not be optimal. “MedTech companies occasionally have something called certified processes. Certified processes inherit a strict set of rules on how they should be performed by employees - this ruleset is often not optimal at all, but they provide the company with a sense of security for external partners. Changing these certified processes takes an enormous amount of work - so even though the process is suboptimal it might still be more beneficial to just automate them as-is rather than reworking the entire thing."
Manage supplier contracts and performance – supplier management is critical; any delay or issue can impact the entire production process. Automating supplier contract management and performance tracking allows for quick identification of risks, ensuring your suppliers meet deadlines and quality standards.
Enhancing operations
Track inventory levels of components – manually managing inventory levels is prone to errors, resulting in stockouts or overstock. Automated inventory tracking provides real-time visibility, ensuring your components are available when needed while reducing excess inventory costs.
Schedule regular maintenance of equipment – regular maintenance of equipment is crucial to prevent unexpected downtime, but manual scheduling can be inefficient. It often relies on static schedules or human oversight, resulting in missed maintenance windows or redundant checks. By automating maintenance schedules based on equipment usage and performance data, you can prevent breakdowns proactively. This approach ensures smooth operations and maximizes equipment lifespan. “With automation, you can set it up to note anything that seems off, triggering notifications like emails. Automation should alert you to any issues, helping to mitigate unnecessary delays,” explains Daniel Søgaard Jensen.
Automate production scheduling to optimize manufacturing processes – manual scheduling in complex production environments often relies on outdated information and static plans, making it challenging to adapt to changing conditions such as inventory shortages or equipment issues. This can lead to bottlenecks, underutilized resources, and workflow disruptions. By automating your scheduling with real-time data, you can stay ahead of these challenges, optimize your operations, reduce waste, and maintain smooth production.
Unified system integration for enhanced efficiency – dealing with disparate systems can lead to inefficiencies, data inconsistencies, and increased complexity. By integrating all your technologies into a single, unified platform, you can streamline workflows, enhance data accuracy, and minimize manual data entry and reconciliation.
Jesper Lillelund explains, “With modern automation tools, even on-premise systems can be integrated to talk to each other and function cohesively. You don’t have to be fully cloud-based; even hybrid setups can leverage automation to streamline operations. For example, you can build a unified interface on top of legacy systems, allowing technicians to access all necessary information from one place, reducing errors and improving coordination.”
How the MedTech industry can get started with business automation
Once you've identified the priority use cases for your business, the technology aspect often becomes the easier part - though it still requires smart implementation. Modern technologies, such as Microsoft’s Power Platform, particularly Power Automate, offer a low-code environment that easily integrates with existing systems. This allows for incremental improvements without overhauling your infrastructure.
“It’s about getting started with automation; there are plenty of low-hanging fruits that can significantly reduce manual tasks,” says Bo Krogh Knudsen, Industry Practice Lead. Bo also highlights new upcoming regulations, like the EU's extended producer responsibility (EPR). This mandates companies to track and report packaging materials, including plastics and paper, to reduce environmental impact and enhance recycling efforts. Another important regulation is the DPP, which requires new integrations and updated compliance. When adopting automation, it's crucial to prioritize security requirements, ensuring that data integrity and protection are maintained throughout the process.
As the EU advocates for greater environmental accountability, MedTech companies like yours must be prepared to adapt to evolving regulations and market demands. "That's why it's essential to create a platform that's both scalable and composable," explains Jesper. “The beauty of modern automation tools is that they already possess these qualities. This allows you to start small and evolve your solution as needed, ensuring your automation efforts can grow and improve over time.”
Achieving this requires a strong commitment to data discipline. Maintaining accurate data and clear records is essential for informed decision-making, as errors in MedTech can have serious consequences. Implementing verification and validation processes helps prevent incorrect data entries and enhances security by ensuring that only validated data is used, reducing the risk of breaches and unauthorized access. Once these systems are established, automation can significantly free up time, allowing teams to access reliable information with just the push of a button.
Jesper highlights a recent successful customer story involving an international food and beverage manufacturer, “We are helping them in leveraging Power Platform to build applications and create a new user interface across their multiple legacy systems. This way, employees don't have to log into the old systems. Instead, they can use the new user interface, which streamlines their focus on specific tasks while also writing back into the legacy systems. This approach simplifies the onboarding process for new employees, reduces errors, and enhances overall efficiency. As a result, they've been able to achieve a cohesive experience with a consistent user interface across all systems.”
Identifying impactful use cases and prioritizing them is the most critical step for all MedTech companies. However, regardless of which use cases resonate most with your business, it’s important not to follow them without careful consideration. Instead, focus on the specific areas that bring the most value to your operations and fit with your strategic goals. Aligning stakeholders from various business areas, understanding pain points, and defining strategic goals will help target areas that offer the best return on investment.
For companies with significant resources and strong internal processes, it’s feasible to manage this in-house. However, many businesses struggle due to daily job demands and misalignment among teams. External help can orchestrate the process, ensuring everyone is on the same page.
This is where Columbus can help. With our MedTech expertise, we can help identify and prioritize use cases and establish an automation center of excellence utilizing Power Platform and Power Automate. To facilitate this, we offer a comprehensive one-week package of workshops designed to:
- Enhance your understanding of Power Platform and workflow automation possibilities
- Identify potential digitization and automation use cases
- Prototype and prioritize solutions based on implementation complexity and business value
- Outline what’s required to establish an automation center of excellence
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