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Conny Jakobsson

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Elos Medtech’s OPEX approach What is in it for me as an OEM?

Elos Medtech’s OPEX approach: What is in it for me as an OEM?

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Do you know our motto? It is striving for excellence in everything we do. However, focusing on operational excellence, built-in quality, and continuous improvement all comes down to one thing: What is in it for you as an OEM? In this post, I break it down to answer the question.

What is OPEX in medical device manufacturing?

OPEX is an abbreviation of Operational Excellence. It is often described as the journey to optimize an organization’s processes so it can create more value for its customers while using smaller amounts of resources.

OPEX is not a fixed goal. It is rather something that is regularly achieved. Therefore, it requires continuous improvements.

To us as a CDMO, OPEX is about ensuring that we operate excellently throughout our organization and always look for ways to improve our performance. It is our way of systematically and continuously improving our processes to become more Lean, reduce waste, and create value for our customers.

To concretize: We want to deliver high-quality products at the lowest cost and in the most efficient way possible while reducing waste.

A leading global CDMO for medical devices.

Our long-term strategy is to strengthen our offering and develop our competencies in our expertise areas to remain a leading global CDMO for medical devices in our markets.

Our OPEX strategy is to develop our production processes continuously and systematically through continuous improvements, waste reduction, visualization, and standardization. Through efficient, automated, and digitized solutions, we can create cutting-edge production.

We do the right things – and we do them right.

Our OPEX work means ”doing the right things and doing them right”. It includes competent leadership, systematically developing our skills, and constantly improving our processes. This way, we achieve built-in quality in every process and world-class operation.

What is in it for me as an OEM of medical devices?

You can ensure your customers that your medical devices are of the highest quality. Your capacity demand and expectations will be met, and you can harness innovation and sustainability from a trusted CDMO.

We work as a global team across borders.

As a company, we recognize that the energy our employees put into their daily work is our most important asset for building world-class manufacturing. The phrase ”stealing good ideas with pride” is a valuable insight when applied within our own organization. By collaborating across borders as one team and sharing expertise between our sites globally, we can build a more robust offering.

What is in it for me as an OEM of medical devices?

No matter where you are or which production site you use for development and manufacturing, you will benefit from our global knowledge and expertise.

We focus on development, learning, and training.

The cornerstone of a learning culture is that everyone has a ”growth mindset”. Our culture is not only to learn and apply what we have learned but also to feel engaged to share our knowledge with others through teamwork. It is crucial for creating long-term results where continuous improvement is more than a technology – it is a way of life.

What is in it for me as an OEM of medical devices?

You will benefit from the results of our growth mindset: The better we get at development, design, and production, the better your products get.

We put the customer first.

Lean is a systematic method for minimizing waste. It focuses on identifying parts of a production process that do not provide customer value. We foster a culture where everyone is committed and empowered to apply Lean to maximize customer value.

What is in it for me as an OEM of medical devices?

You will have your products delivered according to the agreed delivery time, in the correct quantity, and with the highest quality. You can rely on sustainable, no-waste, effective production.

We have a problem-solving mindset.

We have a problem-solving mindset throughout our organization. There are always ways to improve processes, eliminate waste, and create error-proofing methods with problem detection early on. Our culture is based on encouraging ideas and being agile for improvement suggestions.

What is in it for me as an OEM of medical devices?

You can feel confident that we not only detect and solve problems at an early stage but also prevent them from happening in the first place.

We focus on operational efficiency.

Our operations strategy serves as a platform for all our sites to improve performance and add value. Our operations management is our fundamental approach and methodology in our organization, with teamwork as a base and customer satisfaction as a result.

What is in it for me as an OEM of medical devices?

You will benefit from shorter lead times, a flexible supply chain, higher efficiency, and lower cost – ultimately feeling satisfied with our products, services, and capabilities.

We continuously improve our processes.

Continuous improvement is a method for identifying opportunities for streamlining work and reducing waste. The cycle of continuous improvement – identify, plan, execute, review – is a mindset we have adopted across our operations. We constantly improve and systematically develop people and processes to create value and prosperity while reducing waste.

What is in it for me as an OEM of medical devices?

You will benefit from more cost-effective solutions as we do not focus on cost in the first place. By working with continuous improvement and doing the right things throughout the entire process, the total cost will eventually drop.

We empower our people.

We strongly believe that our employees are our greatest strength. Providing each employee with a supportive environment that encourages them to come up with innovative and bright ideas, and do their best, is our way of empowering people.

What is in it for me as an OEM of medical devices?

You can rely on engaged professionals who will go the extra mile, learn more and faster, and be more creative, to work for your advantage.

We focus on what is best for the customer.

In a customer-oriented company, all employees, regardless of role, base their decisions and actions on the belief that what is best for the customer is also best for the business. The basis of our customer focus is to develop collaboration with our customers to get ideas for improvements and cost savings.

What is in it for me as an OEM of medical devices?

You will benefit from the security of a mutually fruitful and valuable customer relationship based on communication, dialogue, and understanding.

We sustain the gains by standardization.

“Sustaining the Gains” is part of our continuous improvement culture. It is the concept that once any improvement has been achieved, the next step is to standardize and maintain it. A high retention rate creates greater opportunities to maintain what we have achieved.

What is in it for me as an OEM of medical devices?

You can rely on your products that are produced with high-quality equipment, efficient production, and stable processes based on proven effective methods.

The result? Medtech Quality Excellence.

Developing and manufacturing medical devices that impact human health comes with great responsibility. Patients put their trust in the tools used to treat their bodies. And the creators of those tools –  you, the OEM – put your trust in us, the CDMO.

And so, the result of all our efforts is Quality Excellence.

Do you need a trusted CDMO for medical devices? Visit our website to learn more.

Elos Medtech China

Celebrating 10 years in China and looking forward to the decade ahead

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Earlier this year, Elos Medtech celebrated the 10th anniversary of our establishment in China. Our capacity and production volumes have steadily increased over the past ten years, and we are now looking forward to an even more exciting decade ahead. This as we continue to broaden and deepen our expertise, and prepare to launch our own Elos Medtech dental products on the Chinese market.

Expanding our global presence, our production, and our skillset

Expanding our global presence beyond Europe and North America was a key reason for our establishment in Tianjin, China back in 2010. Another reason was our ambition to move closer to certain parts of our supply chain. In addition, one of our major customers was already located in Tianjin.

The move meant that some of our production, and certain production processes, were transferred from Gørløse in Denmark. Our great technical expertise ensured a smooth transition, and a quick commencement of our business operations in Tianjin. Our capacity and production volumes have grown consistently in China over the years. Skills development and new production processes have allowed us to expand in the dental segment. However, we also continue to develop beyond dental, expanding our expertise within orthopedics as well as other life science areas.

Several years ago, Elos Medtech initiated an internal review of our production sites. This was done in order to identify which processes and products that were best-in-class, and to pinpoint what each site could improve upon and learn from the other sites. As for China, we are adding new processes to our production (as outlined above) and expect to work with all of Elos Medtech’s segments in the near future. Doing so will allow us to serve our customers better, and increase our ability to support other Elos Medtech sites as well.

Streamlining our work processes to become even better

Evaluating and developing your work processes does not require an all-encompassing perspective, or a major overhaul. Continual, small-scale adjustments can have a significant impact, and are often easier to implement compared to more comprehensive changes. In China, we continue to streamline our work processes, so that we can be an even better supplier and partner to our customers. This work includes:

  • Improving our supply chain, and increasing cost-efficiency.
    This can be done in several ways, such as by contributing to a better flow between suppliers and factories, and by reducing lead times between the purchase of raw materials and customer delivery.

  • Focusing on lean management and lean production.
    This includes our work with continuous improvement and making sure that it is a cornerstone of the work culture at Elos Medtech. We are also working extensively with increased digitization, as well as automatization where that will yield the best results – inspection of finished products, for example.

  • Strengthening local sales.
    Many of our current customers are present in China, and we work to make sure that we are visible to potential customers and partners as well.

  • Focusing on quality throughout the entire production process.
    The importance of this cannot be overestimated. At Elos Medtech, we believe it is critical to foster a mindset where we always keep our customers’ requirements in mind, including at the production level. Every co-worker, in every part of the process, should feel that he or she works with high-quality products that the customer should be completely satisfied with.

Introducing Elos Medtech’s products on the Chinese market

Earlier this fall, some of our Elos Medtech dental products were registered to be sold on the Chinese market. We look forward to introducing them to our Chinese customers, and to bring you more news on this subject in the future.

We are also very proud of our Elos Medtech culture of quality awareness and customer satisfaction. Our personnel is open to the fact that we can become even better at the things we already do well today. Everyone at our Tianjin site contributes to our success, and this great local teamwork will be key to Elos Medtech’s continued growth in China over the years to come.

Do not hesitate to contact me if you want to know more about the work we do in Tianjin, and our presence on the Chinese market. You can also find lots of other interesting articles here on the Elos Medtech blog.