A question we are often asked at Arrotek is how long it takes to design a new medical device product. Knowing this helps entrepreneurs and businesses plan future steps, including those that come after the product is designed, including putting the product through clinical trials.
The problem with answering the question of how long medical device design takes is that it is variable.
The simple answer is three to six months.
To understand further, it helps to explain our process, the things that can cause delays, and how we mitigate those delays.
How We Work
At Arrotek, we put a schedule in place when we begin a new medical device design project. This includes the various stages of the process, with each stage requiring sign-off from the client.
A project manager will also be assigned to your project who will keep in regular touch to ensure you are updated. This is usually via a weekly telephone or conference call.
The project manager will also present the design work at the completion of each stage. A PowerPoint presentation is typically used in these meetings. You will be required to make a decision (to select a concept idea to move forward with, for example), give feedback, and/or sign-off the stage so the design team working on your project can move to the next one.
Crucially, if there are any issues that cause schedule slippages from our side, we communicate with you immediately to ensure you know as soon as possible.
Causes for Delay
In the vast majority of projects, however, schedule slippages where we encounter an issue at Arrotek are rare. There are other factors, however, that can, if not properly addressed, cause a project to fall behind schedule. The two most common are:
- Inefficient approval processes
- Going off on tangents
Streamlining the Approvals Process
Getting approval from you as the client is essential to ensuring the project stays on track. This is because it eliminates the risk of us having to go back to make changes because of something you are not happy with.
That said, the approvals process itself can introduce delays to a project. This is particularly the case when there are several people involved in the process. It is exacerbated further when some of those people cannot attend a presentation by the engineer managing your project.
As a result, we will discuss with you at the outset ways we can streamline the approvals process and make it as efficient as possible.
Staying Focused
At Arrotek, our clients include creative, innovative, and inspiring entrepreneurs who come up with fantastic ideas. Designing a medical device product, however, requires focus on specific requirements. Therefore, new ideas introduced during the design stage slow the process down.
One of the first things we do, therefore, is to define the project’s requirements. This helps our design and engineering teams to maintain focus and deliver according to the agreed schedule.
Successful Project Delivery
There are variables that impact all medical device design projects. At Arrotek, however, we have tried and tested methods, developed over many years, that ensure the successful delivery of the projects we work on. This includes keeping projects on schedule.
