Gary Snipes, Senior Director of Sales – Lincotek Medical US, explains the concrete steps the company is taking to provide OEMs with more efficient service and increased innovation.

July 29, 2021 | The concept of Integrated Supply Chain Solutions is not new – it has been well exploited and refined in low-margin industries for a long time. But today, it is not only a matter of reduction and elimination of waste to preserve margins. Covid-19 has illustrated that many companies are also not fully aware of the complexity and vulnerability of their supply chain to global shocks.

The current supply base in the orthopedic field is large and very fragmented. Orthopedic OEMs continue to face pressure over pricing, as well as quality and regulation. Not only that, but the pressure is on to provide competitive service and fast delivery. So, working with a full-service contract manufacturer helps OEMs to reduce risks and complexity and consolidate their supply base, concentrating on things that really enable them to stay competitive in the market.

To this end, Lincotek has taken concrete steps in providing a wide-range of fully integrated, reliable and efficient services to offer to OEMs. With an intense focus on innovation and speed to market, Lincotek Medical has the ability to guide OEMs through every step of the device development process – ideation to high-volume production. This is illustrated by the following examples:

  • Supply Chain involving Implant and Instrument from Ideation to “product in a box” using Lincotek’s Design Team, Additive Manufacturing and Machining centers.To satisfy some particular nano surface feature requirements of certain OEMs, Lincotek does also manage/coordinate work on these additive manufactured parts at other subcontracted vendors.
  • Casting of the CoCrMo alloy – with the entire process, from design through casting to delivery of a finished part, under a single and integrated production flow. This integrated production flow may involve as many as three facilities within Lincotek Medical – Casting, Machining/ Finishing, and Plasma Spray Coatings at the final step.Additionally, having redundant capabilities between sites also addresses Risk Management initiatives for the OEMs.

Among Contract Manufacturers, Lincotek is certainly in the enviable position of offering almost all services needed to realize a finished device. These are provided within its various manufacturing facilities located between Europe, North America, and Asia to further mitigate an OEM’s supply chain risks. Those few services not offered within Lincotek are routinely managed via a reliable network of ancillary service providers, which include test facilities, Hot Isostatic Press and Forging.

Procurement teams at OEMs are striving hard to cultivate and retain Contract Manufacturers who can deliver on a promise in a sustainable. They want a partner to help the OEM reach its objective of revenue and profit growth, while delivering the best devices to its surgeon community.

And, when building a supplier network, what are the most important factors to consider to identify that partner? Here’s what sets Lincotek apart:

  • our collaborative partnership model at each level of the working relationship
  • our flexibility, being able to guarantee the attention and the flexibility typical of a small company, but with the resources of a big business
  • our extensive and deep knowledge of the technology and mastering of the process and associated quality requirements at all steps of the supply

Lincotek believes in building reliable partnerships that give confidence and reassurance to plan for the future. With our capacity to rapidly industrialize new solutions and consequently invest to support the customer’s growth, we routinely walk the OEMs through every step of the process, adapting our production to the customer’s needs and providing exactly what they need where they need it.

This is the Lincotek approach: a unique Integrated Supply Chain Solutions offer to preempt, eliminate or at least reduce, any delays or waste, reduce risks and complexity. As a result, we can enable OEMs to consolidate their supply base and outperform the market, meeting the expectations and demands of the entire healthcare community with reduced costs and faster timelines.

Want to learn more? Watch this webinar