News Articles

May 13, 2011

How to Handle a Medical Device Recall

By: Denise Odenkirk and Tom Kozenski
MDDI

To manage a recall effectively, speed and inventory visibility are key.

Product recalls are challenging for any manufacturer, but when it comes to medical devices and life sciences, speed is of the essence. Any delay in a product recall—whether due to sterility concerns, patient safety, expiry date, or product efficacy—can literally mean the difference between life and death.

More than 1000 medical devices were recalled for potential safety problems in the first half of 20091. Of those, more than 100 Class I recall notices were distributed for defects serious enough to cause a reasonable probability of adverse health consequences and death. Yet many medical device and life science manufacturers still rely on monolithic enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems that actually slow their ability to track and manage recalls. Some don’t even have a warehouse management system (WMS) in place to help them understand where product is in the supply chain.

Read more

RedPrairie does not maintain, is not responsible for the content of, and does not endorse, any of the web sites linked to the RedPrairie web site. Access or connection to these linked web sites is at your own risk. The content, accuracy and reliability of, and the opinions expressed and other links provided in, these non-RedPrairie web sites are not investigated, verified, monitored or endorsed by RedPrairie, and RedPrairie disclaims any warranty, express or implied, with respect to the contents of such web sites.