CUSTOMER SITUATION
A large cardiovascular company wanted to transfer manufacturing of a mature line of guide catheters to save costs and free up space to fuel further innovation at its US manufacturing facility. The catheter line was large and highly complex, with more than 100 SKUs, 4 different lengths, and a curved end that differentiated it from competitive products.
The customer chose Viant because it offered:
- A manufacturing facility in a low-cost geography
- The capability to do a large-scale technology transfer
- The potential to be a long-term partner
VIANT SOLUTION
The Viant team listened to the customer and partnered with them to develop the best overall solution.
Viant designed and built a customized cleanroom for this catheter line at its Costa Rica facility, with square footage, filters, air changes, and other parameters to meet the customer’s needs.
The team used a systematic approach to compress timelines, starting at the highest level and reviewing assumptions, requirements, and resource assignments down to the specific task level. Due to the large scope of this technology transfer, it was split into two phases: Phase 1 (14 months) included many high-volume SKUs, and Phase 2 (3 months) included fewer SKUs.
This two-phased approach allowed the team to master the manufacturing processes in stages, which accelerated the overall transfer process.
OUTCOME
Transferring manufacturing to a low-cost environment cut costs by 35%, and the customer made up its investment in less than one year. The transfer also freed up capacity to develop new products at the customer’s US site. As this was a mature product line, the customer had many best practices for operational excellence in place that Viant could learn from and apply to future projects.
