Components in Electronics - CIE It's not often I come across a short but interesting article that highlights my own belief about innovation but today I read such an article.

In a recent study, conducted by the organizers of MDT 06, 46% of UK's leading medical device manufacturers report that they are using innovation rather than price to take on their competitors.

I recently has the pleasure of meeting one of these companies in the UK and got hear first-hand how they innovate their medical devices by spending time with the customer, and no not the people in procurement but the medical technicians, doctors and patients who use their devices. The point that really impressed me was that they took a representative from every aspect of their organization (many eyes see different things) to observe what was happening, along with a video camera. The insight that provided and the connection from the engineer to the patient became a personal experience that really drove them to be innovative. For example, I saw a heart resuscitator being used in an ambulance that had been originally designed for use in a hospital. As a consequence, a vital cable to charge the device was practically impossible to plug in when the ambulance was in motion, owing to its position in the ambulance. This could potentially lead to the device not being charged and ready for action. As soon as the engineer saw this device being used in a different environment the improvement to the device was made, amongst many others.

Surely, and particularly in the medical device industry, this behavior towards the consumer should be encouraged. It can't be all about cost? Well not in the UK medical device industry anyway I'm please to highlight...