Medical supply and device professionals are no strangers to competition or to pressures brought by safety regulations that continually tighten. However, these and other challenges increased with the arrival of an unexpected pandemic. For those who have been relying on an industry-specific Cloud ERP solution and medical supplies software, overcoming these challenges while remaining competitive, complying with regulations and improving the bottom line has not been an issue. But for those who haven’t? It’s been a different story.
If your business is one of those relying on an outdated, disconnected ERP solution, it’s time to research modern, industry-specific ERP solutions. NexTec has a new report that can help: ERP Selection Guide for Medical Supplies and Devices Manufacturers and Distributors.
Challenges in the Medical Supplies and Devices Industry
The COVID-19 crisis, an aging population and rising healthcare costs have driven demand for medical supplies and devices. According to Grand View Research, the US medical device manufacturers market size for 2020 was $176.7 Billion USD and the predicted market size value in 2021 is $186.5 Billion USD. The revenue forecast for 2028 is $262.4 Billion USD with a CAGR of 5.0% from 2021 to 2028.
This potential growth and profitability in the industry is tempered by the fact that legacy ERP solutions present users, such as yourself, with a variety of challenges. These challenges include no real-time visibility into inventory, lack of control over warehousing and the inability to ensure quality and compliance. A company that experienced these challenges is InBios International.
InBios International is a Seattle-based biotechnology company founded in 1996. The company’s experienced scientists and engineers specialize in designing, developing and manufacturing immunodiagnostic devices for infectious diseases and biothreats, providing accurate, easy-to-use, cost-effective and quality products. They’ve grown rapidly over the years, but their in-house software was unable to scale with them. It was also unable to manage their inventory and required them to run half of their business on spreadsheets and email.
“Without accurate, current inventory numbers, we couldn’t keep up with growing demand,” says InBios International’s Manufacturing Manager, Bryan Deszell in their NexTec Customer Story. “We simply weren’t confident in what we had on hand and what we needed to order. We needed to scale the business, and that required we move to an ERP solution.”
How Industry-Specific ERP Software Can Help Address These Challenges
With the help of NexTec, InBios International researched leading Cloud ERP options and ultimately chose Acumatica Cloud ERP. Their implementation and go-live of Acumatica’s industry-specific ERP solution went without a hitch, and the timing couldn’t have been better.
Deszell says, “We got Acumatica in place right in time. Along with NexTec, Acumatica was instrumental in ensuring we could get our coronavirus diagnostic test to market as rapidly as we did.”
In addition, Acumatica’s inventory management software, warehouse management software and distribution software helped the company improve their inventory management and solve their previous challenges. Specifically, they were able to respond quickly to the pandemic, improve forecasting accuracy for just-in-time ordering, save on inventory costs, streamline FDA compliance reporting with lot and distribution traceability, and better manage their growth.
The good news is that these benefits are not limited to InBios International. All businesses within the medical supplies and devices industry can experience the same benefits with an integrated, industry-specific Cloud-based ERP solution like Acumatica. As NexTec’s new ERP Selection Guide for Medical Supplies and Devices Manufacturers and Distributors explains, “[An ERP] is a comprehensive business management tool used by multiple industries that connects and organizes all areas of a business. The goal of integrating an ERP with your organization is to reduce redundancies, increase efficiency and provide a 360-degree view of your business.”
The guide also notes that the integration of every department and process results in a single solution delivering one source of information for the entire organization. Here is a brief overview of what medical devices software users will be able to do:
- Track inventory in real time: Gain visibility into quantities and costs, ensure raw materials are available for production and maintain revisions
- Streamline warehouse processes: Streamline sales orders, automate cross-company transactions and enhance purchasing processes
- Ensure quality and compliance: Gain full traceability for regulatory compliance and be fully recall ready
Further details on the benefits of an integrated Cloud ERP solution are provided in the guide, including the elimination of manual inventory counts and the addition of batch picking functionality.
Why Medical Supplies and Devices Companies Choose Acumatica
InBios International chose Acumatica to help them with their medical devices management needs. With their continued growth after the COVID-19 crisis, Deszell says it was the right choice: “I can see us growing another 10-fold or more without outgrowing Acumatica. It’s the core of our manufacturing operations and the platform we’re building the business around.”
Acumatica was purpose-built for the Cloud and designed as a highly functional and mobile (accessible from anywhere at any time) ERP that can be easily personalized for small-to-midsize businesses (SMBs). From order, inventory and purchasing management to customer relationship management and business/financial reporting, Acumatica is an industry-specific ERP solution that can help you capitalize on the 2021 trends and overcome challenges in the medical supplies and devices industry.
And because Acumatica charges for computing resources used rather than for each user added, SMBs can afford a comprehensive, scalable solution.
“We believe in technology’s power to transform, and we selected NexTec and Acumatica to lead the effort,” Deszell says. “It’s our platform to build the business on going forward.”
As an Acumatica Gold-Certified Partner and one of the largest Acumatica teams in North America, NexTec is ready to help you overcome industry challenges and help your medical supplies and devices business succeed. Download the ERP Selection Guide for Medical Supplies and Devices Manufacturers and Distributors and contact us as you begin researching your cloud ERP options. We’d love to chat.