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January 2016 • SMT Magazine 51 Las Marias: What are the biggest requirements for your medical electronics customers? Morrison: Regulatory standard compliance, traceability, controls and established risk man- agement and quality management processes are paramount for our customers. To support this, we provide our customers with complete end- to-end risk management plans that are demon- strated through computer integrated manufac- turing control from incoming through to ship- ment. Our ability to produce a compliant medical product of high quality and reliability at the end of the day is why medical customers outsource, and this is where we exceed. Las Marias: What are the top opportunities in the medical electronics ems sectors? What markets are growing the fastest? Morrison: We are seeing increased growth in home or remote diagnosis as well a health vi- tal reporting and collection, and the ability for health professionals to effectively read, di- agnose, and in some cases treat remotely, has introduced more wearable device and portable electronic device product introductions. With the increased need for connectivity including leveraging the Internet of Things (IoT), loca- tion has been less of a barrier for patient access including older technology advances such as wireless pacemakers. We are also seeing electronics and advanced technologies increasingly being used to support DNA sequencing and new ways of disease de- tection/treatment, which is driving increasingly smaller electronics and denser devices and re- quires very small form factors to support this growing area. Along with these areas, the use of new manu- facturing techniques such as 3D printing (addi- tive manufacturing), inclusive of metal printing and other nano-materials, has been a growing area especially for implants and related markets. As an EMS provider, these areas are driv- ing the need for more advanced and connected electronics and new opportunities to continue to grow our medical manufacturing sector. Las Marias: What do you see as the biggest driver of medical electronics innovation? Morrison: Advances in connectivity (IoT), man- ufacturing techniques (3D printing) and nano- technology (materials and technology) are the biggest drivers in medical electronics innova- tion. These advances have opened new ways to communicate, interact and treat patients, which has been embraced by the medical indus- try, and as a result, we are seeing more and more electronic devices taking advantages of these in- novations. Las Marias: please highlight some of the best practices that help medical electronics customers select the appropriate contract manufacturer for their applications/products. Morrison: When selecting an EMS partner for their manufacturing needs, it is important to select a partner that complements the medical customer's core competences, market space, re- gional requirements and manufacturing needs. Picking a partner that is matched to the prod- uct characteristics and requirements should be taken into consideration, a higher complexity system with low volumes may be a different partner than a smaller, high volume runner. Other considerations may include manu- facturing and industrialization expertise; end- to-end service solutions that complement their product requirements; a collaborative partner that can provide value to the organization through value add services; and quality and regulatory expertise. Las Marias: how do you ensure the reliability of the components in your supply chain? do you have traceability systems in place? Morrison: For reliability, we focus on critical components by narrowing the selection assess- ment to those of highest risk to the product: • Sensitivity of the circuit to component performance • Number of components within the circuit • Output from the FMEA/FTA FEATurE inTErViEw MEDICaL ELECTrOnICS: rISkS anD OPPOrTunITIES FOr ELECTrOnICS ManuFaCTurErS