Springboard will be attending the UK’s leading Wound Tech conference in Harrogate from 11 to 13 November 2013.
Wound care is a major sector of the healthcare industry, but with increasing global pressures, many companies are finding that they can no longer compete effectively in a commoditised market.
Well-established companies are increasingly turning to innovation to add value and compete on quality of treatment. Traditional dressings are starting to give way to advanced wound therapy such as negative pressure wound therapy and pressure relief, while prevention and monitoring of infection is increasingly critical. It is in these new advanced spaces where the world’s leading companies will be battling it out for supremacy in the coming years.
Recent examples of commercial activity that is changing the market are Smith and Nephew’s launch of the PICO negative pressure system, and KCI’s acquisition of Systagenix.
The rapidly changing landscape leads to many organisations finding they have to adapt to new technical skills, perhaps by branching out from adhesives knowledge and into electronics or fluid management. Not only does this bring new engineering challenges, but the task must be carried out in a world of increasing regulatory requirements (such as new requirements on usability engineering) and ever-shorter product lifecycles.
Keith Turner is head of medical devices at Springboard, an advanced technology engineering consultancy, which specialises in pushing the boundaries of devices that are sold in regulated markets. If you would like to arrange a meeting at the conference, please call +44 1223 422275.
