Pre-production meetings can remove manufacturing surprises in one hour or less

Medical device manufacturing today means you not only need to produce parts, but also the data that supports the parts.

As a manufacturer, it’s essential to know which data points a customer needs at the start of a project so the right data is collected throughout production.

Pre-production meetings are one of the best ways to gather this information and also reveal any potential roadblocks to manufacturing. They take place at the start of a project, and in typically one hour or less, help everyone in the room have a better understanding of the design and data requirements of a device.

In the January/February edition of Orthopedic Design & Technology, we shared a Smarter Engineering column about the value that pre-production meetings bring to manufacturers and customers.

“Three Steps to Improve the Manufacturing Process with Pre-Production Meetings” discusses the manufacturer and customer benefits of pre-production meetings, as well as how these meetings operate. There are three main steps to setting up and hosting a meeting:

1. Inviting the right people to participate.
2. Preparing to discuss design questions and requirements.
3. Meeting to review design requirements, drawings, inspection requirements and purchasing details.

Our customers routinely mention how valuable they find pre-production meetings because the conversation goes beyond a simple design review or design for manufacturing.

The article shares some of the benefits and insights that Lowell and our customers have gathered with this practice. For example:

• By investing an hour of time for this meeting at the beginning of the project, it’s possible to save hours of discussions and design iterations later.
• It’s essential that engineering, quality and production reps from both the manufacturer and customer attend the pre-production meeting to learn what the other needs for the device to be successful.
• Having a physical sample of the device at the meeting can clarify questions that require a visual reference point.

Make sure to check out the article to learn more about how pre-production meetings can improve medical device manufacturing. Or, contact us to talk about how this process can help improve your results.