Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/622045
34 SMT Magazine • January 2016 The total outsourced manufacturing value is expected at US$21.8 billion in 2019—99% or US$21.5 billion will be accounted for by elec- tronics manufacturing service (EMS) providers. The medical EMS industry will likely be grow- ing at 7.2% CAGR (Table 2). I would like to think these forecasts for the medical product assembly are quite conserva- tive considering that the megatrends men- tioned at the beginning of this article bode well for the medical industry. Margin pressures, compliance costs and risks, supply chain instability, and new product introduction headaches are some challenges in medical device manufacturing that probably hinder a more aggressive prognosis, but with innovation, medical manufacturers can churn out more. Serving the Baby Boomers The "baby boomers," consisting of people born from 1946 to 1964, have become part of the aging population and are creating a high de- mand for healthcare and medical products. Ar- Medical eMS: Opportunities abound by Frederick Blancas inTEgrATED Micro-ElEcTronicS inc. (iMi) "Future State 2030," a KPMG report, says that the number of people aged 65 and older will double to one billion globally by 2030. To- day, this age group accounts for about 8% of the global population, but that will rise to 13% by 2030. The emerging economies are home to over 80% of the world's population—characterized by a rising middle-class population and a rela- tively young population compared to the devel- oped economies. This means they drive global consumption of goods and services. The above numbers present opportunities for medical device manufacturing. New Venture Research predicted that the global medical product assembly value will reach US$85.3 billion in 2019 from $60.7 bil- lion in 2014, a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7%. Medical diagnostics alone will reach $43 billion by 2019 from $27.7 million in 2014, a CAGR of 9.2% (Table 1). FEATurE