New team at Camstar has cure for medical device maker ills
Staff -- Manufacturing Business Technology, 12/1/2003 7:00:00 AM
Camstar, a manufacturing execution system (MES) vendor that's been around since the mid-1980s, is, like at least several other manufacturing applications vendors, focusing increasing energy on the medical device industry—and more generally on life sciences as a whole.
The reason is simple. Because of its highly regulated nature, medical device manufacture clearly benefits from automated compliance with mandated "good manufacturing practices" and better management of manufacturing variability. Moreover, it's believed today's strict requirements in life sciences will sooner or later be imposed on other type manufacturers.
An MES manages real-time production information and processes within a plant, synchronizing operations within a site or across multiple sites.
Fruits of Camstar's efforts have it working with medical device manufacturers Johnson & Johnson, Zoll, Caliper, and Zeiss.
Camstar also, while still run by long-time CEO and President Dave Cone, has a new management team. Some of the new managers—for services, business development, and product development—landed at Camstar by way of its acquisition of Unifi Technologies, a consulting firm that even prior to the acquisition had considerable practice implementing Camstar solutions.
John Beans, a Camstar VP, says the new management mix is no accident.
"Services will always be part of MES," says Beans, "because manufacturing processes can vary so widely. Integration itself has become much easier, but the software must model the business process, not the reverse. A 1:1 ratio of license and service costs is the average, but it can vary widely based on required integration and complexity."
Beans adds that business process modeling in Camstar's InSite MES is achieved by means of configuration rather than custom coding. "Custom coding has all kinds of repercussions, especially regarding FDA requirements."
Other MES vendors casting hungry gazes at medical devices include Honeywell, Rockwell Automation, and Datasweep.
Of the big three ERP players, Bean says, "We have a partnership with the combined PeopleSoft and J.D. Edwards. SAP and Oracle have ambitions in this area, though we do integrate with them."
An ERP module may be sufficient for some, Beans adds, "but if you're really going to transform your business, ERP is not going to do it."
InSite/Medical Device Edition—introduced in February—manages regulatory compliance and exceptions, and eliminates paperwork. As a result, Beans says unit costs can drop 10 percent to 15 percent, while quality control costs drop as much as 70 percent.
In addition, says Beans, "by eliminating waste that can run as high as 40 percent, a manufacturer gains additional capacity."
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