Supply Chain
As supply chain challenges persist, AdvaMed is forging partnerships and engaging the Biden administration to ensure the delivery of healthcare is a priority amidst widespread upstream shortages and transport disruptions.
“If we fail to create reliable access to semiconductors, we will be less able to provide modern medicines to our most vulnerable populations.”
––Jim Farley, CEO, Ford Motor Co., and Pat Gelsinger, CEO, Intel
Wall Street Journal: “When the Chips are Down, Congress Should Support the Semiconductor Industry”
The prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, coupled with extreme weather events and geopolitical instability, has created supply chain challenges for the medical devices industry, along with many others. While the medtech industry is skilled at navigating supply chain fluctuations, the current situation merited the creation of a Supply Chain Working Group that focuses on three key areas:
COVID Response
Through a variety of public-private sector coordination councils and on a company-by-company basis, AdvaMed works with members and the federal government to facilitate the COVID response. This includes working with federal partners to address supply chain bottlenecks that affect manufacturers’ ability to support the COVID response, helping member companies navigate the Defense Production Act, and serving as a hub to inform the federal government about AdvaMed member capabilities to tackle the pandemic.
Supply Constraints
As the pandemic has worn on, the medical devices industry is encountering a growing number of upstream shortages critical to manufacturing. The semiconductor shortage, for example, has become an acute industry-wide issue impacting a range of critical medical technologies. AdvaMed member companies are also struggling to obtain sufficient quantities of resins, polymers, and medical grade packaging as they struggle to compete with other sectors that have larger market share. AdvaMed is working with members and federal partners to raise awareness about these critical shortages and the needs of the medtech industry, as well as to identify solutions.
Transport
Pervasive transport challenges exacerbated by the pandemic and a massive uptick in goods purchases have also impacted the medical device industry which utilizes all modes of transport to move medical supplies and equipment through the supply chain. Working closely with the White House Supply Chain Disruption Task Force, White House Port Envoy, key port authorities, and other supply chain partners, AdvaMed is piloting various tools and mechanisms to expedite the offloading and transport of medical equipment. In addition, AdvaMed is working with a broader coalition to support the development of a National Supply Chain Data Portal.