By Sean Fenske, Editor-in-Chief
 
The pandemic wreaked havoc across virtually every industry and caused businesses to rapidly adjust or shut down completely. As a result, the lasting impact will be felt for years to come. While it’s unfortunate to have some businesses that were unable to open their doors again, those that came out of the pandemic learned important lessons about their supply chain, their ability to adapt, and their employees.
 
This was especially true within the medical device manufacturing space as most companies were deemed essential so they had to remain open to fulfill the needs of medical device OEMs or the healthcare workers on the front lines. Medtech firms were forced to adjust their production floors to keep employees safe while trying to keep up with demand.
 
Life Science Outsourcing (LSO) found itself doing exactly this; the company needed to continue to produce while also ensuring the safety of their team. In this interview, Rato Tomic, director of manufacturing at the company, took time to share his company’s story and experiences. He also provides insights on lessons learned and how they will help shape best practices going forward.
 
Sean Fenske: In what ways did you find the COVID-19 pandemic to affect medical device assembly?
 
Rato Tomic: The pandemic affected companies in different ways—some suffered from internal outbreaks, some from issues with their suppliers, and some with their inability to deliver materials. The simple fact that many businesses had been shut down affected everyone.
 
Similarly, LSO had been impacted from several different directions. Most notably, the company was affected by a small, internal COVID outbreak that the company handled with extreme caution and effectiveness. Unfortunately, however, supply chain issues are still affecting us to this day.
 
Fenske: How did you handle workarounds for these challenges while still trying to keep up with demand?
 
Tomic: This happened before my arrival at LSO, so by the time I got here, the issue had been resolved. People that had been affected by the pandemic had come back without any health issues so I would say that we were fortunate along with the fact that LSO took the right steps to isolate those employees on time to prevent a greater outbreak. Preventive measures that were implemented then are still in place now.
 
Fenske: What concerns did your customers have about the process and your capabilities?
 
Tomic: They were mostly concerned with our ability to deliver, but with proper planning and application of overtime, as well as keeping the focus on those customers that had kept their doors open, LSO sailed relatively smoothly during that period. Obviously, I came in at the tail end of that, so I hadn’t seen the beginning of it in early 2021.
 
Fenske: What lessons has the company learned from the experiences in handling the challenges created during the pandemic and how will they shape your actions in the future?
 
Tomic: Collectively, we recognize that every day brings up a different set of challenges. One day you have the full crew and the next you don’t, so the importance of training and cross-training gets amplified. The next day, a customer cannot deliver materials because of their own set of challenges, and you must change plans on the fly so the team—which you are struggling to assemble—doesn’t sit on downtime. In any case, constant and open communication within LSO as well as with every customer was the key.
 
Fenske: How are you handling challenges you encounter with regard to the supply chain? Are there best practices to take forward once the supply chain crisis has eased?
 
Tomic: We continue to seek alternative sources of critical materials to ensure continuity of supply. Being a contract manufacturer of medical devices, we often rely on our customer’s supply chain. In addition, many components are custom and unique to the product being produced. This limits our options for alternatives and forces us to increase material safety stock levels, re-order points, and often concede to carrying inflated inventory levels to avoid stock-outs. Going forward, increasing the list of approved suppliers, and validating alternative materials will be added to our best practices.
 
Fenske: What about labor? How have your employees reacted to changes to processes and procedures? Are there lessons learned that help you address labor shortages?
 
Tomic: Historically, LSO’s ratio of full-time versus temporary production workforce averages at 40 to 50 percent, which resulted in two adverse effects during the pandemic. Full-time employees maintained their employment status, but were challenged with efficiency levels due to COVID-related absences.
 
Retaining temporary employees, on the other hand, was a more challenging situation. Due to the nature of temporary employees, we found an increase in turnover. As manufacturing outfits started opening their doors, they started paying temps at higher rates than pre-pandemic. In order to stabilize our temporary workforce, LSO decided to match market rates to attract and retain our temporary employee population in early August 2021.
 
LSO understood the need to cross-train employees, but this unprecedented situation made the point more profound. Cross-training is imperative to sustain manufacturing efficiencies.
 
Fenske: Do you have any additional comments you’d like to share based on any of the topics we discussed or something you’d like to tell medical device manufacturers?
 
Tomic: We continue to operate in a challenging environment and must remain adaptable and flexible to change as it presents itself. Our ability to react on short notice and take proactive steps to prevent supply chain disruption is key. Our historical model of managing inventory to just-in-time methods has now changed to ensure continuity of supply for our customers. Our ERP execution and planning methods have been changed accordingly in order to ensure the best quality and service levels possible.
 
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