Under the unprecedented cutbacks caused by the coronavirus pandemic, the economy is suffering. Weaknesses in existing structures and business models are revealing themselves in the crisis, and change and reorientation processes are well underway, but the long-term impact on the medical technology sector remains unknown.
What challenges are currently facing the medical technology sector in the course of this crisis?
Existing supply chains have decelerated, disrupted, or broken down completely because of closed borders. The provision of basic medical consumables is stagnating, just as in some cases, the development of more complicated medical equipment is stagnating. Existing supplier dependencies are evident, especially in the form of extremely long response times due to large distances to the manufacturing country and, unfortunately, in the form of questionable quality standards over and over again.
It is now becoming apparent that relocating production to the Far East goes hand in hand with the loss of our own country's manufacturing expertise. As a result, the industry is therefore less able to act the way it wishes.
In some cases, extreme price increases have even occurred in the last weeks due to product shortages. In turn, the rise in prices casts doubt on the savings that outsourcing production has achieved.
Which trends do you expect of the Covid-19 pandemic in your sector?
The Covid-19 pandemic is constantly changing our approach to tackling critical suppliers. Delivery security and quality again become more important than price. From our point of view, as a lesson learned from the coronavirus crisis, it is highly likely that there will be a fundamental structural change in industrial production processes.
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