Leveraging a Third Party Engineering Firm for Medical Device Development

A third party outsourced mechanical engineer, electrical engineer, materials engineer, and engineering teams from engineering consulting firms can provide support to the medical device industry

Recent changes in regulations regarding the manufacturing of medical device benefit the U.S. medical device manufacturers. It now makes financial sense for manufacturers to bring home some of the work that has been done overseas for the last few decades.

Some medical device companies are adding a third party consulting mechanical engineer, electrical engineer, and materials engineer to beef up their medical device engineering teams. Other firms will see benefits in outsourcing to third party firms to complete, expand, or speed up projects. Others may outsource temporarily, or add staff on some projects while outsourcing parts of other projects.
Outsourcing work to an engineering consulting firm has several benefits. With the world economy in difficult straights, adding staff is risky.

Dedicating funds to adding office space for the long term carries the risk of tying your firm up with debt or stripping it of cash reserves in the face of a potential recession.  Furthermore, an engineering firm can bring solutions that from other industries to the medical device field.
Finding specific expertise might also be a challenge. If your project is time constrained, you may not have time for an extended search for a person that is a right fit with your team. Future projects may not warrant a full time individual or group with the specific skills your current medical device project requires.

If you’re looking for specific experience in a mechanical engineer for medical device manufacturing, mechanical engineer consulting firms may have the right person available immediately. More generalized firms can supply a team with varied expertise, including a materials engineer,electrical engineer, process engineer, and software engineer. Perhaps more important still, these individuals may have worked as a team on many projects already and have strong and stable team dynamics.

Leveraging third party engineering groups won’t be the right solution for all firms. If your company has firm long-term demand requiring a dedicated mechanical engineer, electrical engineer, or materials engineer, or an excess of ready cash, very low debt, or spare office space, the risks of adding staff are smaller. And, of course, many firms will find it advantageous to split the difference, bringing in new staff where they see longer term demand or where more general skills are needed.For more information on Glew Engineering Consulting visit the Glew Engineering website, blog or call 800-877-5892 or 650-641-3019.