The following excerpt is from the MDDI article, “Pump Designs Flow Toward Smaller Sizes“.
As medical devices require smaller pumps that fulfill rigorous design requirements, the relationship between OEMs and suppliers is shifting.
A medical device that manages the movement of a gas or a fluid relies on a pump to carry out the application. Advances in technology enable pump suppliers to provide pumps capable of addressing increasingly complex medical device requirements. But industry pressures are also changing the nature of the relationship between OEMs and their suppliers.
At one time, medical device companies looked at suppliers simply as a way to outsource work and reduce costs, said Dave Vanderbeck, business development manager for Trenton, NJ-based KNF Neuberger. While suppliers can help OEMs reduce their costs, Vanderbeck increasingly now sees OEMs turning to their pump suppliers for design expertise.
