Operating your business in a tough economy is certainly nothing any business owner or high level executive relishes.

In a previous post, I discussed how firms like DDL, who exist in the package testing and medical device testing services arenas, are relatively sheltered during these times. However, this is in no way meant to indicated that we do not experience – and in some sense have to refine our strategy – to ensure success.

HealthCare Exec
Article Summary

When a landmark international standard (ISO 11607) altered the direction of the medical device industry in the mid-1990s, packaging and testing innovator DDL made sure it was there to greet them with open arms. That approach to service has never stopped, and it’s changed the pace of how quickly business in the industry gets done.

“You hear time is money, but money in this industry isn’t usually a factor in terms of how much companies are willing pay,” says DDL president Pat Nolan. “What they want is time. They want to reduce time to market, and we can help with that.”

UpsizeMag.com
Article Summary
Despite many Minnesota business owners hang-ups over the larger economy, many respondents to an Upsize survey are moving ahead with ambitious growth plans in 2008.

John Hart, CEO of Eden Prairie-based DDL Inc., provides testing services to the medical device industry. He and his staff of 50 employees test not only the products, but also the sterile packaging they’re shipped in. His clients are located across the country.

Even if the economy takes a nose dive, health care and medical manufacturing are industries that are relatively sheltered, says Hart.

Pharmaceutical & Medical Packaging News

Article Summary
Outsourcing to meet the standards set in ISO 11607:2006 has valid benefits, according to contract packaging firms. Compliance provisions require packagers to have the most current standards at hand and to incorporate them into their process. When such monitoring and execution takes valuable resources away from a company’s primary functions, outsourcing might effectively help to meet compliance needs.

Pharmaceutical & Medical Packaging News

Article Summary

The merger of TCP Reliable Inc. (Edison, NJ) and DDL (Eden Prairie, MN) creates a single provider for a broad spectrum of products and services for package development and testing. The merger gives customers the opportunity to consolidate package development and testing with one vendor. The companies will work together on specialized packaging for complex medical devices such as combination device and drug products, officials say.

Pharmaceutical & Medical Packaging News

Article Summary

Testing methodologies for innovative equipment have prom­­ised ease of use and more-precise results for esta­blishing integrity and seal-strength values of medical device and drug packaging. Some newer solutions accomplish several testing methods in one machine. In supporting R&D applications and package validation, models are offered with computer-supported analysis and results documentation.

Medical Device and Developments

Article Summary

Medical Device and Developments features 12 steps to get your medical device to market and mitigate your risk.

Medical Product Outsourcing

Article Summary

The threat of offshore outsourcing may have concerned some contract service providers in recent years, but not so much for companies who perform medical device testing. In fact, these businesses are busier than ever as the next generation of products with complex designs and newer materials makes testing more complicated. While some manufacturing operations have shipped overseas, the tangled regulatory web only has served to strengthen the desire for outside expertise in the testing realm.

Pharmaceutical Commerce

Article Summary

Shipping pharmaceuticals is not the easiest of international trade activities. The need for cold-chain management of temperature-sensitive materials makes the process harder. And the need for meeting newly standardized rules for “biohazard” materials, such as vaccines, tissue samples, clinical materials and some blood products, can be the perfect storm of shipping difficulty. Layered over all of this is the concern with bioterrorism.

Medical Product Manufacturing News

Article Summary

Specializing in package testing and validation, a company has launched a service that sends subscribers updates about changing standards and compliance requirements. The free Industry Standards Alert service provided by DDL Inc. (Eden Prairie, MN) is accessible through the company’s Web site. Beneficial to medical device packaging and design engineers, the service consists of e-mail notifications from the firm detailing modifications or revisions to industry standards