Contract Manufacturing
The changing face of hospital stays
Steve Turner explains the importance of forging early partnerships between designers and manufacturers when it comes to meeting growing demands for infotainment systems, specifically those targeted at hospitals
systems, selecting the right solutions partner with a clear understanding of the environment, applications and ongoing maintenance is essential. He explains, “With the majority of a
product’s cost typically determined by its design, this area is usually where suppliers and manufacturers look to achieve efficiencies. Ideally these can be achieved via innovation, utilising the most appropriate design framework and getting that design right first time from a manufacturing, procurement and test point of view. This is infinitely better than trying to overcome in-built design issues and challenges further down the process.” He adds: “By involving a manufacturing partner at an early stage in the design process, or by outsourcing design to these partners, the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) then has the opportunity of an early warning on whether or not a particular design approach will work during the production stage. “Added to that is the manufacturing
R
apid technological advances and opportunities to innovate have made digital healthcare solutions increasingly attractive for many UK manufacturers and this has created a growing demand for infotainment systems which can help to enhance the time patients have to spend in hospital. Steve Turner, who is Director with responsibility for Supply Chain Management and Planning at the cable assembly and integrated electronics products and logistics solutions provider, CHH CoNeX, talked to CIE about the challenges this poses for designers and manufacturers and highlights the importance of forging early partnerships between the two.
It seems only a few years ago when patients heading into hospital for an extended stay were watching their favourite television (TV) programme from a single, shared and often out-dated screen. The alternative of course was patients bringing their own reading matter, games or hobby material or invariably; sharing some well- used books or magazines with fellow roommates. However, since the release of the
Government White Paper in July 2002 which called for all hospitals with more than 400 beds to install patient bedside services, phone, multi-channel TV, movies, radio, talking books, games and internet access; National Health Service (NHS) Trusts across the country have had to introduce rapid change with the emphasis now very much on ensuring that patients have a positive experience of care.
12 September 2011
The White Paper also meant that existing suppliers to the NHS had to ramp up their production, installation and support services and consider new designs and technologies in order to take advantage of this opportunity. Together with the recent NHS Outcomes Framework released in December 2010 placing further emphasis on ensuring better health outcomes for patients, it is not surprising that healthcare is not only becoming increasingly sophisticated, but highly personalised. According to Turner, “Digital healthcare
through interactive patient care systems puts the emphasis on providing not only entertainment, but educational resources to the patient’s bedside via their infotainment systems. These systems can offer the patient a better quality of stay enabling them to keep in touch with the outside world and delivering important hospital stay information.” Turner also believes that the selection and adoption of appropriate technology can make a critical difference to the success of the project. Naturally, these technologies and systems would need to comply with the highest possible levels of Health and Safety. “As these systems are intended for bedside use, they not only need to be durable and functionally intelligent; it is imperative that they do not in any way interfere with day-to-day medical care.” Turner adds that in finding, testing and implementing suitable technologies and
Components in Electronics
partner’s ability to achieve the optimum total cost of acquisition by analysing both the cost of production and the value added by the contractor to the product through innovation, design input or other services.” Problems created by poor design are widely documented and not only result in costly delays across the supply chain, but worse still can result in unreliable products entering this highly safety critical industry. A greater emphasis on collaboration between OEMs and outsourced manufacturing partners to achieve such integration throughout the process can boost efficiency, reduce time to market and achieve significant cost savings across the board. Turner expands, “For example, one OEM may be influenced by the desire to drive out
CHH CoNeX was contacted by a company which had an innovative technical solution for bedside entertainment. This system originally delivered basic TV and telephony services and was connected to a network operated over coaxial cables. Turner explains: “Using the system at the bedside resulted in the scissor arm beginning to move which meant that the arm was wearing prematurely. “After discussing the arm and cable construction with the original designers to get a better understanding of their design and concept thinking, we carried out our own testing to replicate the day-to-day use. “This then resulted in a
redesign of the internal pivot fixings, which relieved the friction on the cable and improved the cycles to the requisite 25,000. This extended the product life to five years based on the customer’s calculations. “We also undertook further development work on the cable structure, giving lifecycle test results in excess of 50,000 movements. This cemented the relationship with the company further and helped to ensure that the customer continued to provide a stable supply of products to their end users. “The company is now one of the leading infotainment suppliers in the UK.”
all costs of production, whilst another OEM may value readily available capacity, quality and maximum flexibility. And if you are looking to reduce longer term costs, you should be looking at longer term value where the cost impact occurs throughout the life of the project not just at the beginning.
“This makes it critical to have a supplier which partners with you, someone who understands your business and strategic objectives. Working together can also have a positive impact on design, product development, production, quality, yield, test and time to market.”
CHH CoNeX |
www.chhconex.com
www.cieonline.co.uk
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52