For the Non-Spine Folks, a Networking/Education Opportunity

This year’s North American Spine Society annual meeting is taking place in Los Angeles on October 18-21. While I wish I was attending, I’ll be just two and a half hours south in San Diego for this year’s MPO Summit. Since this year’s event is taking place at the same time, I wouldn’t expect those who focus on the back to be in attendance. However, I would encourage anyone else to investigate this year’s Summit.

For those who have never attended an MPO Summit in the past, it’s considered a boutique-style show. Rather than the large convention hall with thousands of people, the MPO Summit offers a more intimate setting—this year, at the Marriott Marquis San Diego Marina. It is highlighted by a 10-session, single track conference agenda that attempts to address many pressing issues impacting the medical device manufacturing sector. During breaks, there’s plenty of time to converse with sponsors lining the perimeter of the room, ready to discuss your latest project or challenge.

This year’s conference is anchored by four panel discussions, addressing topics from innovation development to digital healthcare. The remaining six solo speaker sessions will tackle important issues including automation, reshoring, sterilization, and labor challenges.

The event will kick off with two “overview” sessions; first, a look at the region of the event. The Welcome to San Diego introduction will provide a 15-minute look at Southern California and give current facts and figures on the medical device industry in the area. Then, Tony Freeman, president of A.S. Freeman Advisors LLC, will take the stage for a worldwide examination. He will present a comprehensive analysis of the latest trends within the medtech manufacturing industry. Future product directions brought on by demographic and financial changes will form the core of the presentation and concerns and considerations relevant to the evolving OEM and supplier relationship will be discussed.

After Freeman, SMC’s Ryan Moran will speak to the role manufacturing automation can play in a company’s reshoring efforts. As firms rethink their supply chains and regions in which they are developing and manufacturing products, they are utilizing automation in various capacities to combat labor shortages, improve efficiencies, scale, and/or improve quality overall. This session will explain how automation can help an organization and how to ensure proper resources are allocated for the management, implementation, and maintenance of the systems.

Rounding out the morning of Day 1, the first panel will look at the medical plastics space and how it’s evolving. With molding well established and the increasing interest in additive manufacturing, this panel will discuss what the future holds for both fabrication methods. In addition, the participants will look at the impact sustainability and recycling efforts will make, as well as changes in material offerings.

The second of the four panels will examine the dynamics of the supply chain and whether recovery has been achieved, or if there’s still room for improvement. Representatives from both OEMs and suppliers will respond to questions on the pain points that still exist, lessons learned from the pandemic, and what changes must be made to ensure the challenges of the past few years are not experienced again.

Still another panel will look at the prospects for innovation in medtech. Is there a sufficient “reward” for striving to develop a product beyond the “me too” offering? How can the industry encourage medtech innovation through the regulatory pathways and reimbursement requirements? Innovation is something that benefits all, but it seems the journey toward it is filled with obstacles.

The final panel discussion, taking place on the second day, will focus on the opportunities and challenges that come with digital (or “smart”) devices. Do the data breaches and cybersecurity concerns outweight the benefits of these products? The panel will discuss what the industry needs to do and policies to embrace to ensure the safety of these products.

Providing a perspective that isn’t centric to the medical device industry, Rosemary Coates of the Reshoring Institute will bring her expertise and experience to the Summit to share insights. Coates has the benefit of following reshoring efforts across industries and can provide best practices from elsewhere that medical device makers can adapt for their own strategies.

Still more topics will be made a focus at the 2023 MPO Summit, so if this sounds of interest and you won’t be attending this year’s NASS meeting, I encourage you to check out www.mposummit.com to get additional information about the event. Hope to see you there. 

Sean Fenske, Editor-in-Chief
[email protected]