Reducing time-to-market top priority, study says

Global consulting firm specialising in the healthcare industry, PA Consulting, has finished a study that found reducing the time to market is the number one need among medical device companies.

Topping the study as the most important drivers in the healthcare industry is product innovation, closely followed by reducing time-to-market then efficient product development. 66% of respondents regard product innovation as the top competitive driver with 56% regarding time-to-market reduction as the top competitive driver.

Organisations are targeting an average reduction of 25% in the next five years for development time and costs to remain competitive. The general cascading of development costs for the different classes ranges between less than $2 million to more than $20 million. With an average cost reduction of 25%, savings between $1 million and $5 million can potentially be achieved.

The report states that whilst companies have a clear understanding of the need to reduce time-to-market lengths, they are not doing enough to achieve it.

The majority of respondents sees reusing technologies, focusing on core competencies and managing strategic partners as the most effective levers to reduce time and cost-to-market.

PA Consulting analysed the results of top performers in the survey and discovered a huge gap between respondents’ own capabilities, the estimated level of their competitors’ capabilities and the actual best practices of respondents. On average, respondents rate their competitors’ capabilities not much higher than their own (on average 10%), but lag behind the best practices by around 40%.