Five Things to Know About Sourcing Medical Connectors Through Distributors
How you source your connectors can be just as important as which connectors you specify. Here, TTI shares five things to know about sourcing medical connectors through distributors.
Who you work with to provide connector solutions for your medical device can be just as important as the connectors themselves. Here are five things to know to make the advantages of partnering with an authorized distributor work for you.
1. Involve the distributor early in the design process.
An early, critical decision in the design of a medical device is whether the connectors will be industry standard components or a custom-designed solution. A distributor’s understanding of the strengths, capabilities, and range of products from the manufacturers they represent provides design engineers with the best solution options.
2. Leverage the expertise of the distributor.
Because they work together daily, distributors understand which manufacturers will be the best fit for your medical device design. That might mean recommending a manufacturer with expertise applicable to your performance requirements, experience on similar solutions, or the broadest range of suitable standard products. For example, TTI has coordinated manufacturers to supply a hybrid solution no one company had the ability to provide. The experience of the right distributor goes a long way in maximizing the performance of your design.
3. A Distributor provides flexibility – even on a custom part.
Your production run may require thousands of connectors, but do you need them all at startup? Typically, manufacturers produce the entire order and ship it complete, a serious investment in product and inventory-carrying costs for you. A distributor like TTI will tailor a supply chain program with options for purchasing and maintaining stock on hand. If the connector is a commercial off-the-shelf component, the distributor typically purchases significant quantity; providing access to inventory and cost advantages via existing volume purchasing.
4. Distributors know when new products are coming to market.
The industry constantly improves the connectors for medical products – reducing physical size, creating more secure connections, increasing speeds, and reducing EMI/RFI. Distributors are on the cutting edge of advances across their product portfolios. At TTI, new products are stocked broad, deep, and early in their development life cycle, ensuring the latest products are readily available for new designs. This inventory strategy coupled with in-depth product knowledge will ensure you don’t find yourself with a solution that is obsolete before the end of your product’s life cycle or invested in unproven technology.
5. Think beyond the connector.
In most cases, the total acquisition cost of a project is less when using a distribution solution versus a direct-sourced model. Inventory-carrying costs, late deliveries, line-down situations, and PO expedites add time and cost to any medical design. This can be reduced or negated by partnering with an authorized distributor who delivers the parts you need, exactly when you need them, and globally.
These are a few of the reasons to call on an authorized distributor when your next medical device project calls for connectors.
TTI maintains a 200,000-square-foot, ISO-registered connector facility, with value-add assembly certified to military and aerospace standards, and next-day delivery in most cases. Visit TTI online.
