7 Ways to stay flexible in 2022!

What a year was 2021! Material shortages of all kind, price increases and increasing demand was combined with the uncertainties caused by the Covid pademic. Everyone working in supply chain, materials management or sales was challenged to their utmost. The theory of just in time and minimal warehouses have proven to be unreliable and even big multi plant suppliers couldn't deliver material to keep their customers plants running. Their was only one thing to do: Stay flexible! In a sector with the highest quality standards, medical device, this is no easy task. Verification and Validation requirements are enormous and questions like bio compatibility are not that easy to answer. Here are 7 Ways to stay flexible with your material choices in 2022 and keep your production running with the highest quality standards.

1. If you don't have a Materials Management Department, create one

If you want to evaluate alternatives you need material experts. Materials Management Departments are not as common as they should be. An Department dedicated to all things raw material related. This can be anything from one expert dedicated to the raw materials too a whole department with multiple teams caring about specific topics, depending on your portfolio. It's very simple: if you have no one evaluating alternatives you are dependent on your suppliers and no supplier is going to tell you to go to his competitors because he has a feasible alternative. You need your own experts that can assess your alternative materials on a very deep technical level.

2. If you have a Materials Management Department, strengthen it

Ok, so you may have a Materials Management department. But is it sufficiently staffed? Do you have enough resources to attack the current challenges like supply chain disruptions, sustainable materials and increasing regulatory requirements? You should carefully evaluate that and I can tell you that the answer is most likely, no. So don't wait until your production grinds to a halt because you don't have an alternative material or you loose customers because your material isn't compliant. You need to build the arch before the flood, else it is too late.

3. Buff up your IT

You need the right tools to work with. Your ERP is one key resource. What does it help you if you evaluate second source materials if you cannot reliably map this in your ERP. Can your ERP handle multiple revision levels at the same time? A key feature if you want to track changeovers under tight time requirements. Which customer is getting old material, which one new material. Can you parallel produce with both materials? How do you track assemblies. A good ERP can handle these questions but as before: the arch needs to be built before the flood. Another one is material data base access. It is impossible to know every material on the market. Here Database access like UL prospector are extremely valuable.

4. Lean your processes

Qualification is key. Especially for medical devices you are highly restricted in how and what you have to verify and validate. Keeping these high quality requirements in mind, you need to lean your processes as much as possible. If your supplier cancels your material shipment in two months and you need 6 months to qualify and alternative you have a problem. Have someone coordinate processes across your company, making sure the processes work like a well oiled machine together. There is no place for conflicts or redundant work.

5. Build up Material Compliance and Regulatory Knowledge

In recent years the demands on material compliance exploded. The SVHC gets updated every 6 months, the new US president bans substances on his first day in office or the UK introduces a plastic tax for plastics below 30% recycled content. The material compliance field is ever shifting and you need to face it. This is a regulatory topic best taken over by RA. However a close collaboration between RA and Materials Management is needed. Your alternative materials need to comply, or maybe you need to change over because your current material does not comply with current regulations. Therefore, regulatory requirements for a material are as important as technical requirements. If you haven't already, you need to build up your material compliance knowledge in order to stay flexible.

6. Good Employees are Key, try to keep them

If you haven't figured this out by now, good talent is rare. Experts in their field don't just spontaneously come to be. Hiring someone and expecting him to perform right away in a complex setting with high quality, regulatory and technical requirement is illusionary. You need to build and keep your experts. Fluctuation is killing you, your company culture and your flexibility. Therefore, treat your people well. Educate them, inform them about changes and compensate them well for good performance. They are the ones working overtime when there is the risk of a material shortage, so keep them happy and you won't regret that.

7. Be transparent

When ever you face turbulent times and change. Honesty is the best policy. Everyone is facing the same issues, the question is just how to proceed with them. It doesn't pay to hide or lie about material changes. Even if the process, regulations and contracts allow for this open and transparent communication is the best strategy. You don't need to negotiate in the case of a shortage. (Un)fortunately your negotiation position is stuck. Your costumers can either buy the alternative or nothing. You would gladly sell them the standard material but you can't because you have no other option. And you were transparent and honest about it in your communication. The best part about this strategy is that you never need to think about what you can and cannot say, you just can keep being honest. Tremendous how this eases the communication.