Greater flexibility, more freedom to focus on the core business and the integration of complementary competencies constitute customers‘ main arguments for outsourcing their production processes to WILD.

According to the latest studies, over 25 percent of German companies intend to outsource more production processes in the next five years. The reasons for this are as diverse as they are understandable. Current examples of WILD customers demonstrate how much companies can benefit from cooperating with a strong technology partner.

For instance, in order to focus more on its core competence, namely material production and development for dental medicine, a German company recently reduced its own manufacturing activities and outsourced them to WILD. ”For us, this was by far one of the finest declarations of confidence“, says Stephan Payer, Head of Business Unit WILD Electronics. The German company tasked WILD with the parallel outsourcing of five device types, including the specific assembly environment and the development of an adequate supply chain for these products. ”These devices have been established on the market for years. One of the main issues faced by the customer was that several components were no longer available in the sourcing market, so that alternatives had to be found. By using the different production sites within the WILD Group and because we identified great saving potentials in the cost structure behind manufacturing, we also managed to cut manufacturing costs“, Stephan Payer stresses. The project team has been working on the concept since late 2019 and has developed a plan with clear timing targets. Following several weeks of training for the assembly staff at the customer‘s production site, the individual devices were gradually outsourced to WILD.

GREATER FLEXIBILITY

However, so much lead time is not always possible. Sometimes things have to be done really quickly. This was, for instance, the case with a medtech company on whose behalf WILD manufactures modules for PCR equipment. ”As a result of the coronavirus pandemic, the customer‘s annual production volumes doubled and sometimes even tripled from 2019 to 2021“, Payer explains. ”Within an extremely short period of time, we had to determine what was feasible in terms of material supply and how we could build up or shift resources in production. Since our staff are trained on several modules and devices, we were able to use them very flexibly. Moreover, expanding our assembly lines and providing additional space was an easy task for us because we are no strangers to juggling resources.“

Reacting to fluctuations in demand with a minimum of delay was also our top priority in the manufacturing of assemblies used in blood gas analysis devices which monitor a patient‘s lung  function. ”In this case, too, we managed to supply the customer with more than double the normal volume during peak times“, says Payer.

OUTSOURCING OF PRODUCT UPDATES
Another medtech customer was faced with the difficult challenge of fitting a new laser handpiece to a laser treatment console already in use by its customers. In their already strained capacity situation, they were unable to cope with the additional organisational and assembly effort. ”Within a few hours, we decided to accept the project despite its short notice, once again demonstrating the speed and flexibility required to solve an urgent customer problem“, stresses Manfred Gallé, Head of Medical Technology Business Unit WILD GmbH. The project details were coordinated in just a few days. WILD staff travelled to the customer‘s production site at short notice to familiarise themselves with the product, analyse the assembly process and draw up the project plan. After that, they disassembled around 200 devices from different countries at the WILD site in Völkermarkt, installed the new components and carried out the necessary tests. The WILD Group is skilled in the quick, efficient and flexible integration of complex product outsourcing projects into its manufacturing process. The technology partner does not shy away from taking on all associated tasks at extremely short notice in order to take off pressure from its customers. These tasks include adjusted commissioning systems, a stable material supply or the optimisation of existing products. The production transfer management system process also plays an essential role in outsourcing. ”The respective project team meticulously works its way through well-proven checklists, enabling it to plan and implement all necessary details in the areas of supply chain, assembly, material supply, infrastructure, tools and resources, as well as training etc.“, concludes CEO Josef Hackl. As a result, it is possible to rapidly and efficiently develop know-how for new products in the company, thus taking off pressure from the customer‘s manufacturing capacities.